Mark’s Testimony – Synanon

I have recently written a book about my experience at Synanon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09YKW8WGB

The following is a bit from my final chapter where I explain how Started and developed.

Synanon is often viewed as the product of Charles Dederich. While it is possible that Charles Dederich started Synanon on his own, I have doubts. The project may have grown from CIA funded research.

On August 28, 1957 prior to starting Synanon, Charles Dederich was given LSD as part of a program Dr. Keith S. Dittman and Dr. Sidney Cohen were running. These same two doctors were also part of the CIA MKULTRA program. The CIA was investigating how to influence human behavior for “brainwashing”. The activity at Synanon increased and changed direction after 1965 when Abraham Maslow got involved and later when he directed one of his start students by the name of Steven Simon to “Go West to Synanon” to study clinical and social psychology.

Research Psychologists were part of what Stephen Simon describes as “first generation leadership”. Stephen Simon joined later as he was in the process of obtaining his PHD. This was in a period that directly follows the time when the Psychology department at Harvard was performing research on MKULTRA program experiments. The MKULTRA came to the public’s attention in 1975 in a Congressional Committee report. People were very concerned about the CIA activities within the United States. Richard Helms, who was at the time the Director of the CIA ordered that all MKULTRA files be destroyed in 1973. If any research into experimental psychology occurred after 1975 it was extremely secret and records were never released. It is possible that Synanon as an organization large enough to have their own Mainframe computers, leased lines, and isolated population was seen as a tool to explore clinical and social psychology. Having a “cover” organization would allow work that would otherwise violate legal and ethical rules.

Charles Dederich was a barely functional alcoholic from age twelve until he left college with poor grades. He was on a hard road and yes, he did plenty of wrong but he was trying to help others. Drug abuse, poverty, and violence were a big part of the lives of many people who arrived at Synanon. Many had hard roads on their way to Synanon. None of this absolves adults of their responsibility but it helps me to understand them. People who have never been placed on a hard road still seek out the easy path. Some will seek to avoid responsibility at all costs. What role does higher education play? Who creates a dictator? Did Dederich seize control of Synanon or did the community burden him with an excessive load, saddle him with responsibility, and drive him to insanity? Is Dederich the villain, or should we blame Harvard educated psychologists who could manipulate and amplify Chuck and others while shaping a narrative. Was Dederich intentionally manipulated? What is a socialist view of responsibility? Synanon I was very different from what came later. Steven Simon wrote a paper where he describes the period after Maslow became involved as Synanon II.

In 1967, Maslow was named Humanist of the Year by the American Humanist Association. Steven Simon describes 1968 as the birth of Synanon II. It is possible that my childhood may have been a psychological experiment designed by Abraham Maslow, Steven Simon, and others. Their goal was to create a better society. The arrival of people who were experts in human psychology marked a change in Synanon; in their own words they describe Dederich’s role as being reduced with the introduction of “second generation leadership”. If Synanon was an experiment then clearly it got out of control.

The period in 1978 described as Synanon III became the point where violence peaks. Steven Simon makes it clear that the direction of Synanon changed after Maslow became involved. The period he describes as Synanon II is when we see a large influx of money. Hollywood elites got involved. George Lucas shot the film THX 1138 using Synanon members as extras. Synanon morphed from a drug treatment program to an advanced psychotherapy program for non-addicts. Children were placed in dormitories and removed from their parents. Simon describes Synanon as a group and in many places clearly describes the rise of a “second generation leadership”.

The early games of Synanon were concentrated attack and defend sessions, lasting an hour each. These are described by Yablonsky (1965). They were called, accurately, self-help attack therapy groups. In the early stages of Synanon, however, the Synanon I game was on a par with other Synanon educational mechanisms like the noon seminar or the haircut. It had not yet acquired a unique role. In Synanon III the attack therapy games are described by Steven Simon as lasting a full week. It is my view that when Steven Simon directed my father and others to destroy evidence his actions were part of a well designed but hastily implemented plan to increase the focus on Charles Dederich and shift the focus away from others. Steven Simon had a role in designing a systematic approach of brainwashing that would build on the work of Maslow and his own psychological research. While he did serve a small time in jail, was he successful at hiding his part in a larger psychological experiment? Was Synanon more sophisticated than people think? Is the American Humanist Association involved? What has been the impact of ideas that developed in Synanon on other groups? Is Synanon connected with Scientology or the mythical Illuminati? What is the influence today? Steven Simon was the only member of Synanon who was unwilling to take a deal. He and others may have successfully prevented the full story from being told.