S2|E6: Poster Child

Summary

Episode Summary: "Poster Child" (Season 2, Episode 6) of The Sunshine Place

Introduction to Straight Incorporated

"Poster Child" delves deep into the dark history of Straight Incorporated, an experimental teenage rehabilitation program that emerged in the 1980s amidst America’s intense war on drugs. Positioned as a tough-love solution to steer troubled youth back onto the right path, Straight Incorporated promised transformative results. However, survivors of the program reveal a harrowing reality marked by abuse, torture, and brainwashing, exposing the sinister mechanics behind its operation.

Nancy Reagan and Princess Diana’s 1985 Visit: A Masterclass in Manipulative Marketing

The episode opens with a recounting of the pivotal moment in November 1985, when First Lady Nancy Reagan and Princess Diana visited Straight Incorporated in Fairfax County, Virginia. This high-profile visit was a strategic move to bolster the program’s credibility and appeal to affluent, suburban parents—a key demographic targeted by Nancy Reagan’s anti-drug campaign.

Cindy Ettler narrates the scene:

"The first place she visited after launching her campaign in 1981... it was one of the first places that I went to when I became involved with a drug problem. So I have a very soft spot in my heart for it." (Timestamp: [05:30])

The presence of these admired figures created an image of legitimacy and effectiveness, overshadowing the program's troubled past, including a federal court conviction for kidnapping and false imprisonment two years earlier.

Personal Stories of Abuse and Manipulation

1. Cindy Ettler’s Journey

   Cindy, a survivor, recounts her traumatic experiences, revealing that her enrollment in Straight Incorporated was not due to addiction but a response to severe familial abuse. Misdiagnosed as an addict after minimal drug use, Cindy was thrust into a nightmarish environment where her genuine struggles were weaponized against her.

2. Wendy’s Transformation: From Rebel to Recruiter

   Wendy’s story is particularly distressing and illustrates the program’s mechanism of turning victims into perpetrators. Initially rebellious and grappling with her sexual identity, Wendy was forcefully enrolled in Straight Incorporated by her parents under the guise of seeking help.

   Wendy describes her initial resistance and subsequent compliance:

   "I felt embarrassed because I have all these girls telling me how disgusting they find it... I was made to feel like I was a deviant and sick and twisted and abnormal." (Timestamp: [11:49])

   After enduring physical restraint and psychological manipulation, Wendy was transformed into a model participant and eventually a recruiter for the program. Her role involved mediating family conferences and orchestrating the recruitment of new participants, effectively perpetuating the cycle of abuse.

3. Valerie’s Ordeal

   Valerie, another survivor, shares her experience of solitary confinement and the intense peer pressure exerted by fellow program members. The lack of adult supervision and the elevation of untrained peers to positions of authority created an environment ripe for abuse and control.

   Valerie recounts:

   "I was locked in these people's closet... the parents weren't even, like, acting like parents. They gave total control over to these children." (Timestamp: [26:20])

Historical Context: The Origins of the Troubled Teen Industry

The episode provides a comprehensive historical backdrop, tracing the troubled teen industry’s roots to military rehabilitation experiments post-World War II. Marcus Chatfield, a historian and survivor, unveils how techniques like the "Total Psychotherapeutic Push" method developed at Fort Knox influenced civilian programs.

Marcus explains:

"There is a direct lineage between military rehabilitation and the teen treatment industry, and the power behind that really dwarfs Synanon." (Timestamp: [31:08])

This method evolved into "Guided Group Interaction," a peer-driven approach masquerading as democratic rehabilitation. Programs like Synanon and Straight Incorporated adopted and adapted these techniques, embedding them into the broader troubled teen industry with significant backing from influential organizations like the Ford Foundation.

Political Connections and Expansion

Straight Incorporated’s growth was significantly fueled by strategic political alliances. Mel Sembler, the founder, cultivated a close relationship with George H.W. Bush, who supported the program both financially and politically. This alliance culminated in presidential endorsements, further entrenching Straight Incorporated’s legitimacy and facilitating its nationwide expansion to eleven locations across seven states by the early 1990s.

Marcus highlights the political ties:

"Mel Sembler took on an active role as a political fundraiser in George Bush's second presidential campaign... by the early 1990s, Straight had opened 11 locations in seven states." (Timestamp: [40:46])

Marketing Strategies: Using Survivors as Propaganda

Straight Incorporated masterfully manipulated media and personal testimonials to market its services. By featuring success stories of former participants like Wendy, who became the program’s "poster child," Straight Incorporated portrayed itself as a transformative and benevolent institution. These narratives were disseminated through local newspapers and public service announcements endorsed by high-profile figures, effectively masking the underlying abuse.

Cindy Ettler reflects on the manipulation:

"It's infuriating to read her words now, and it's unsettling to read mine. My quotes are a window into how brainwashed I was." (Timestamp: [21:05])

Marcus Chatfield’s Investigation: Unveiling the Truth

Driven by his own experiences, Marcus Chatfield dedicated his career to uncovering the foundations of the troubled teen industry. His research debunks the myth that Synanon was the sole progenitor, instead revealing a complex web of military influence, psychological manipulation, and political support that collectively fostered programs like Straight Incorporated.

Marcus asserts:

"I knew it was more than just a story about some weird drug rehab. It wasn't just simply a cult... but the most powerful people in the world were promoting it." (Timestamp: [38:04])

Legacy and Impact

By the end of the 1980s, Straight Incorporated had become a national phenomenon, revered by political leaders and replicated across the country. However, the program's destructive legacy continued to affect countless lives, leaving survivors grappling with the psychological scars of their experiences.

Wendy encapsulates the depth of her transformation:

"Until eventually the Wendy prior to going into Straight, she was gone. I wasn't Wendy anymore. I was what they made me." (Timestamp: [15:56])

Conclusion: A Dark Chapter in Rehabilitation Practices

"Poster Child" serves as a chilling exploration of how well-intentioned rehabilitation efforts can devolve into systems of control and abuse when unchecked by ethical oversight. Through the compelling testimonies of survivors and the meticulous historical analysis provided by Marcus Chatfield, the episode underscores the critical need for accountability and reform in youth rehabilitation programs.

Notable Quotes:

• “How could kids do the kinds of things they did to each other? And how could our parents not intervene?” – Narrator ([27:42])
• “I believed every word of staff smells. I totally succumbed to the messages that they were instilling and sending.” – Wendy ([14:55])
• “I started getting really curious about how I was able to convince myself that I had this disease.” – Marcus Chatfield ([30:10])

Final Reflection

The episode ultimately prompts listeners to reflect on the ethical boundaries of rehabilitation programs and the profound impact of societal pressures and political endorsements. The Sunshine Place not only recounts the grim history of Straight Incorporated but also honors the resilience of its survivors, urging a continued dialogue on safeguarding vulnerable youth from similar ordeals in the future.

Transcript

[Narrator]

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Redeem your Holiday [e-mail] Rs10 today for yourself or as a gift that keeps giving. This episode contains descriptions of physical and emotional abuse. Please take care while listening There they're arriving as you can see the red carpet out, the Secret Service men moving in. Security as you can imagine, extremely tight here. This is footage from a live national television broadcast outside of the Straight Incorporated building in Fairfax County, Virginia. It's November 11, 1985. There's the first Lady, Nancy Reagan, and there's the Princess of Wales, Her Royal Highness. The camera zooms in on the First Lady, Nancy Reagan, as she gets out of a limousine, followed by Princess Diana. Mrs. Reagan is going to wave to the crowd, as is Princess Diana. It's they step onto a red carpet that leads to the front door of the Building. Okay, they're inside now with that big rap session between the parents and the young people. By 1985, Nancy Reagan's anti drug campaign was in full swing. For four years, she'd been touring the country with a message for America's youth. Say yes to your life, and when it comes to drugs and alcohol, just say no. Now she was back at Straight Inc. The first place she visited after launching her campaign in 1981. Straight was one of the first places that I went to when I became involved with a drug problem. So I have a very soft spot in my heart for it. I'm very happy to be here, and her royal Highness is very happy to be here also. This time around, Nancy was joined by a global icon, Princess Diana. Ever since marrying Prince Charles in front of a television audience of 750 million people, the eyes of the world were on her. And she was idolized by women everywhere in America. The women who adored her most fell right into the target demographic of straight, affluent suburban mobs. These were the very mothers that Nancy's anti drug campaign aimed to reach. And having Diana by her side only amplified the campaign's appeal. As a parent myself, I'm only too aware of the responsibility to encourage the child to say no. Princess Di was starting to get involved in the fight against teenage drug use in the uk so Nancy Reagan decided to invite her to what she called her favorite drug program. To the children. There's a great big wonderful world waiting out there for you, and we need you. But we need you clear eyed and clear minded, and I love you, all of you. Princess Diana nodded in approval as Nancy Reagan poured her heart out to the hundreds of kids and parents in that open meeting, along with a national TV audience watching @ home. No advertising agency could have scripted a more perfect commercial for Straight Incorporated. It was enough to make anyone forget that just two years earlier, the program had been found guilty in federal court for the kidnapping and false imprisonment of Fred Collins in the highly publicized trial that put Straight's abusive treatment methods on full display. But if you were a parent, who would you believe? A college kid who ran away from a drug rehab or two of the most admired women on the entire planet? I don't think that there's any hurt like the hurt that a child can give a parent. But if you just hang in there with them, I know they'll make it. And I know that we'll beat this. We have to. The therapy at Strait Incorporated was based on powerful forces of psychological persuasion. But the program's most potent form of brainwashing was its marketing and each of us kids was a living, breathing billboard anytime we stood up in an open meeting and convinced someone new to buy into the program. In this episode we'll explain how kids at Strait were not only being abused, they were being used to recruit more kids. Kids like me. My name is Cindy Ettler and this is the Sunshine Place. I have Princess Diana to thank for ending up in Straight. But when she and Nancy visited in 1985, I wasn't there yet. At the time, I was a 14 year old with big hair, a hand me down Levi's jacket and a ton of self hate. I was on day 28 of a 30 day stay in a homeless shelter for teenagers in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In the 80s, Bridgeport was one of the most dangerous cities in America. But I felt so much safer there than at my stepfather's house in the suburbs. He had been sexually assaulting me since I was a little kid. When I became a teenager, I started fighting back. One night he cornered me in a bathroom and beat me. And my mother let it happen. That would be the last time. So I ran away to Bridgeport. That's how I ended up in the shelter. It was the best month of my childhood. I felt safe and respected for the first time in my life. I was devastated when my mother came to pick me up. I didn't want to go back to her house. I had run away for a reason. That's when she told me she was taking me to a quote unquote boarding school in Fairfax County, Virginia. I pictured brick and ivy. But what I saw when we pulled into the parking lot was a windowless warehouse. My mother heard about Straight Incorporated from a relative who knew someone with a kid in the program. When she saw Nancy and Diana on tv, she called my mother and told her she had the fix for my bad behavior. Behavior which was a response to the abuse I was experiencing at home, not addiction. I had smoked pot a total of three times in my life. But of course, during my intake I was diagnosed as an addict and signed into Straight nine days after Princess Diana was there. Her visit was the ultimate example of how Straight marketed to parents. But while the spectacle of events like that caused enrollment to surge, the day to day growth of the program happened in a way that was more subtle and insidious.

[Wendy]

The recruitment was done mostly by kids that were in the program. We were constantly seeking out parents that were in desperate situations with their teenagers at home.

[Narrator]

This is Wendy. She was a prolific recruiter for the program. But in order to Understand how she was used to recruit other kids. You need to understand how she got to straight in the first place. Wendy's family moved around a lot when she was growing up. She spent much of her upbringing living abroad in the Netherlands. She thrived in the cosmopolitan culture.

[Wendy]

I was in love with, learning and experiencing different places and cultures. I had so much freedom in Europe.

[Narrator]

When Wendy was a teenager, her father took a job back in the states, and the family moved to Richmond, Virginia.

[Wendy]

Life changed radically. It's like being on a train that comes to a screeching halt. Compared to Amsterdam, Richmond is a hole in the wall. I just felt so confined as a curious teenager. You know, I started to rebel and hang out with kids that were older. Drinking, smoking pot, doing lsd. I used to love psychedelic trips. It kind of took me away from who I was and how I felt. I would take it before homeroom in the morning at school. I was a troubled teenager. Okay.

[Narrator]

Wendy's parents were suspicious of her behavior. They were part of a nationwide parent group called Tough love, and they attended local meetings with other concerned parents in Richmond. Acting on the advice of the group, they found Wendy's diary and were horrified by what they read. Documentation of drugs, sex, reckless behavior, even references to the occult. So they put Wendy in a conventional drug rehab. But while she was there, she met someone, a woman. And after she got out, they started dating.

[Wendy]

When I got involved with her, she introduced me to the gay club scene. I started going with her to drag shows. So I became part of, like, a subculture that was going on in Richmond in the early 80s.

[Narrator]

But it was a culture clash with the conservative values of her parents and their peers. At Tough Love, Wendy did her best to keep her lifestyle a secret. But her parents figured it out thanks to another tip from their parent group.

[Wendy]

They tapped the house phone and heard recordings of me talking to my girlfriend about going to the clubs.

[Narrator]

Wendy was sober and in love, but she was in love with a woman, and that was as unacceptable to her parents as the drugs. So they got one last piece of advice from their parent group. And in 1983, when Wendy was 16 years old, her parents enrolled her in straight in Fairfax County. Immediately, she was confronted for being gay.

[Wendy]

I felt embarrassed because I have all these girls telling me how disgusting they find it. How could I humiliate myself and my parents that way? And I was made to feel like I was a deviant and sick and twisted and abnormal.

[Narrator]

Wendy didn't feel that way. So she resisted until she figured out that would get her nowhere so she started to comply just to make things easier while she looked for a way out. She had plenty of druggy stories to tell and she could demonstrate performative change, so she was able to progress. After almost a year of conning her way through the program, she earned the right to go back to school. And that's when she made her break. On the first day of class, she and another girl ran away. They hitchhiked to Richmond and showed up at Wendy's girlfriend's apartment.

[Wendy]

But she already had another girlfriend. I mean, I'd already been gone for nine months. I just disappeared. She didn't know what happened to me. So I got drunk. I remember passing out on some lawn chairs. And that's when she called my parents home and said, look, Wendy's here.

[Narrator]

Wendy's father showed up along with a posse of straight parents.

[Wendy]

As soon as I heard my dad's voice, I knew that he was there to take me back. So I tried to run. The girl that I had run away with hid beside the building. And when my father came around the corner, she hit him with a two by four. When I saw her hit my dad in the face with a two by four, I kept running. And I just remember running and tussling. And then they got me pinned down and put the plastic zip ties on.

[Narrator]

Wendy was hog tied with her hands and feet bound together behind her. She was put into the backseat of a car, face down and taken back to straight. She was physically restrained on the floor for several days and she had to start her program all over again.

[Wendy]

Well, at that point I realized I wasn't getting out of there. And I just thought, Wendy, you've got to get with the program.

[Narrator]

Wendy realized that even if she managed to escape again, she had nowhere to go. Her parents wouldn't take her back unless she finished the program and her girlfriend had found somebody else and moved on. The life she wanted to live was over. And besides, her past was a constant source of indictment at Strait. So once again, Wendy made the decision to comply. But this time around, she wasn't pretending. She gave in.

[Wendy]

I believed every word of staff smells. I totally succumbed to the messages that they were instilling and sending. A conversion type therapy was done. And I never once considered getting back in a relationship with a woman because the shame associated with it that had been instilled in my head made it something that I couldn't have tolerated. There's a wall there that I don't think I could ever fully break down. It's a very powerless feeling, feeling yourself, lose who you thought you were a little bit more day by day by day, until eventually the Wendy prior to going into Straight, she was gone. I wasn't Wendy anymore. I was what they made me.

[Narrator]

And what they made her into was someone very valuable to strait a marketing tool, a powerful weapon in Straight's arsenal of propaganda. The next time she was in Richmond, she wasn't there as a runaway. She was there on a deployment with a mission to bring other kids back with her to Straight Incorporated to do to them what had been done to her. Did you know that parents rank financial literacy as the number one most difficult life skill to teach? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app for families. With Greenlight, you can send money to kids instantly, set up chores automate allowance, and keep an eye on your kids spending with real time notifications. Kids get to earn, save and spend wisely. And parents can rest easy knowing their kids are learning about money with guardrails in place. Sign up for Greenlight [e-mail] Odyssey I'm Jenna Fisher. And I'm Angela Kinsey. We are best friends and together we have the podcast Office Ladies where we rewatched every single episode of the Office with insane behind the scenes stories, hilarious guests and lots of laughs. Guess who's sitting next to me?

[Wendy]

Steve Carell in the studio.

[Narrator]

Every Wednesday we'll be sharing even more exclusive stories from the Office and our friendship with brand new guests and we'll be digging into our mailbag to answer your questions and comments. So join us for brand new Office.

[Wendy]

Ladies 6.0 episodes every Wednesday.

[Narrator]

Plus on Mondays we are taking a second drink. You can revisit all the Office Ladies rewatch episodes every Monday with new bonus tidbits before every episode. Well, we can't wait to see you there.

[Wendy]

Follow and listen to Office Ladies on.

[Narrator]

The free Odyssey app and wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is brought to you by US Cellular. Some things are worth waiting for, like getting your diploma or finding the right partner. You know what's not worth waiting for? The cable guy. Fortunately, US Cellular's home Internet is so simple to install you can do it yourself and it's just $39.99 per month when bundled with a wireless plan with a three year price lock guarantee. US Cellular Home Internet made simple without the waiting terms apply. Visit us cellular.com for details.

[Wendy]

I was all about straight. It was who I was. I was Drait's poster child.

[Narrator]

After Wendy made the conscious decision to stop resisting, she fully embraced the program and she excelled. The staff took notice. Her dramatic story of transformation read like a movie script. So Strait decided to put it in writing. They offered up Wendy to be profiled by her hometown newspaper, the Richmond Dispatch. Under the headline druggie tells her own story. Wendy talked about drugs, sex, running away from home, suicidal tendencies, and worst of all, her relationship with a woman. Wendy said she was like a drug for me. My dependency instead of chemicals, was this person. Wendy cautioned other parents to do what hers did. If you suspect your kids are on drugs, follow them. Tap their phone, search their room. Don't ask them if they take drugs. We lie. Local newspapers like the Richmond Dispatch were crucial to Strait's marketing strategy. Major news outlets covered the investigations, lawsuits and controversy. But smaller papers tended to give Straight a megaphone for its propaganda. I was a part of that, too. A small town newspaper in Connecticut featured my story with this quote from my mother. I really believe Cindy was intent on destroying both my marriage and our home. This from the woman who ignored my screams when her husband chased me into my bedroom and locked the door behind him. She goes on to say that she was betrayed by her trust and love for me. In the pages of that article, she was able to publicly validate herself as a victim and a martyr, all while giving free marketing to straight. It's infuriating to read her words now, and it's unsettling to read mine. My quotes are a window into how brainwashed I was. I had drank alcohol once, but in the article I said, I think I've been an alcoholic all my life. I also said that smoking pot was something I couldn't control and that I smoked weed in the bathroom at school. I never did that. But straight condition made a lie as a means of survival. And once my story was up to their standards, they arranged an interview with a reporter exactly like they did with Wendy.

[Wendy]

That's what I mean when I say poster child. My life became an example that was used.

[Narrator]

Wendy's story was so effective that street turned it into an informational pamphlet that they distributed to prospective parents. Not only did Wendy's story look good on paper, it sounded great in an open meeting. So Strayed decided to take her on the road.

[Wendy]

I would sit down on quite a few speaking engagements. After a speaking engagement, I would have parents come up to me and just say, oh, thank God you found straight and your life is so much better now and with your parents. And how do I find out more about getting my teenager into this program? It was that simple.

[Narrator]

It helped that Wendy was a natural Recruiter. She knew exactly how to pick out a mark.

[Wendy]

Parents have a look about them when they've got a teenager that's out of control. You know, it's a worn out, exhausted, frustrated, angry, and you just pick up the vibes off of them. And then when these parents see a kid, clean cut, fresh faced, running to his parents saying, coming home, that's the hook. They want their kid to be doing that with them. And if they had any hope that that could occur by putting their child into this program, nine times out of ten, they did.

[Narrator]

Wendy had a way with the parents, and her valuable skill set didn't go unnoticed. So when she graduated from straight in 1985, she was chosen to be on staff. It was then that she got her most important assignment yet. There they are. First Lady Nancy Reagan. And right behind her, the Princess of Wales, Her Royal Highness.

[Wendy]

It was a magical moment to be in the same room with royalty. She looked beautiful as always, dressed to a t hair perfect. Ms. Reagan was stunning.

[Narrator]

Wendy was responsible for helping to curate a perfect image, not just for Nancy and Diana and the parents in attendance, but for the photographers snapping pictures and the live television cameras broadcasting to a national audience.

[Wendy]

My job was just to maintain order and make sure that no one decided to make a break for it or shout something obscene or cause the first lady or Princess Diana to question anything that was occurring there.

[Narrator]

Wendy hedged her bets by identifying potential troublemakers ahead of time and keeping them out of sight during the visit. Locked away in intake rooms. This was standard protocol when straight had important guests.

[Wendy]

It was all set up to be beautiful and perfect. It was a very big deal. It made straight a household name. Within the next couple of weeks, we had to start putting more rows of chairs in the group.

[Narrator]

As more kids enrolled in straight, Wendy took on more responsibility to run the program.

[Wendy]

We designed every rap. We would all get together before RAP started and plan what the topic would be and to discuss who we wanted to target to help progress or who needed to be set back.

[Narrator]

One of Wendy's responsibilities was conducting family systems conferences where she would mediate sessions between a straight kid and their family.

[Wendy]

They would tell me about their family and I would observe the parents and the siblings behavior and make an analysis. And then we'd set a treatment plan in order to change their dynamics. I was conducting family sessions as if I was a trained certified counselor. I felt a measure of respect. It made me feel worthy, made me feel needed. So I felt important. I felt powerful. It's exhilarating. At 17 years old, Wendy was a.

[Narrator]

Teenage high school dropout whose only training came from straight. But competent, successful adults listened to everything she said and did whatever she told them to do.

[Wendy]

Parents were conditioned to accept whatever any staff member says is what needs to be done. We were regarded as the people who were helping to save their children's lives.

[Narrator]

That inverted power dynamic was infused into all facets of the program, not just in the building, but in people's homes, where the parents took their cues from the kids. Everything from the schedule to the rules to the punishments. Some kind of way I ended up in a closet. It was some kind of punishment, but I don't remember what the punishment was for. This is Valerie, who you've heard throughout the series talking about her struggles making progress in the program. Valerie remembers an incident where an old comer sentenced her to solitary confinement inside a closet in a host home. I was locked in these people's closet. I don't know how long. I know it was at least two days, but maybe it was three days. But I only knew because I could see, like, this thin piece of light underneath the closet. And I knew when the light was there that it was daytime and the light was not there. It was nighttime. And when they let me out of the closet, I didn't even recognize who I was, really. I've never been thin in my life, and I was very thin being in that closet. I was so hungry. The parents would cook, but the other children that were over, you decided whether you eat or not. The parents weren't even, like, acting like parents. They gave total control over to these children. But there wasn't a mom there saying, make sure she gets some cereal, or the mom there saying, she's hungry. Where were the people that were supposed to be watching over us?

[Wendy]

People's lives were in our hands, and who were we? Untrained peers that had gone through the same kind of trauma, and now we're put in charge of everyone else. What I was a part of actually helped to destroy who they were as individuals inside themselves, just like what was done to me. Straight convinced us to want to be in the role of the people that had caused us our own trauma. How the hell did he do that?

[Narrator]

Most survivors are haunted by that question. How could kids do the kinds of things they did to each other? And how could our parents not intervene? How could they allow themselves to be complicit? I don't have easy answers, but I do know people who have gone digging for them, and the ones they found have terrifying implications. Is your cold making it hard for you to get to sleep and leading to a bad morning. Switch to Mucinex Nightshift for fast, powerful nighttime multisymptom cold and flu relief. Mucinex Night Shift fights your worst nighttime symptoms to help you get to sleep and wake up ready to go. Mucinex Night Shift it's comeback season. Use as directed. How about some fresh out of the oven gingerbread, bright snowdrop, fresh Iowa pine and cool peppermint to put you in the holiday cleaning spirit. Made with goodness. Not a lot of nonsense, Mrs. Meyers. See what good can grow. Visit Mrs. Myers.com today.

[Marcus Chatfield]

I started out thinking I could manipulate the group into believing I was sincere, and before I knew it, I was sincere.

[Narrator]

This is Marcus Chatfield, the historian you've heard throughout this series. His parents enrolled him in Straight incorporated in Fairfax, Virginia, 10 days after Nancy and Diana's visit. He was there at the same time as Wendy and I. He spent over two years on the program.

[Marcus Chatfield]

I guess about six months after I got out of Straight, I started realizing that Straight was lying to me, they were lying to my parents. I was lying to Straight, I was lying to myself. And I started getting really curious about how I was able to convince myself that I had this disease, that it was real. And I started getting curious about that process and where the program came from.

[Narrator]

Marcus has dedicated almost his entire adult life to searching for an answer to the question that Wendy asked earlier. How how was Stray able to do what it did to his family and so many others? He's followed that thread throughout his career as a historian, as he searched for the origins of the troubled teen industry. Most people familiar with the subject point to Synanon as ground zero, but not Marcus.

[Marcus Chatfield]

It's actually a much larger story, and the actual story is almost more sinister because there is a direct lineage between military rehabilitation and the teen treatment industry, and the power behind that really dwarfs Synanon.

[Narrator]

Almost two decades before Chuck Diedrich founded Synanon in Santa Monica, California, in the late 1950s, a group of military clinicians at Fort Knox in Lexington, Kentucky, were experimenting on American soldiers. After the United States was drawn into combat In World War II, there was a growing concern that the army had a shortage of manpower and too many of the soldiers that they did have were defying authority and going awol. So experts around the country were tasked with inventing new methods for rehabilitating delinquent soldiers, as many as possible, in the shortest amount of time possible. The clinicians at Fort Knox discovered something promising. They called it the Total Psychotherapeutic push method. It was an experiment that harnessed the power of peer pressure to make participants mimic and eventually internalize behaviors, attitudes and beliefs that were beneficial to being an effective soldier. The subjects monitored each other's behavior and confronted each other in large group sessions. The experiment was observed by specialists in many different fields of study from all over the country. After the war was over, a group of correctional officials in New Jersey decided to use the total psychotherapeutic push method on civilian prisoners. But first they rebranded it.

[Marcus Chatfield]

They found in the military there was a real stigma around calling it the total psychotherapeutic push method. And they wanted to avoid that stigma in the prisons. They didn't want to label civilians mentally ill. So they changed the name to guided group interaction.

[Narrator]

But when they tried to introduce the therapy to the prisoners, it didn't go over well. They didn't want to confront and police each other. Their opposition was to authority, not their fellow inmates.

[Marcus Chatfield]

The inmate culture was anti guard. And if you did anything as an inmate counter to the inmate culture, then you were a snitch. And so what they quickly realized is that to really develop an effective experimental program to get it off the ground, they really needed to start from scratch with younger boys.

[Narrator]

The next half hour we are going to follow one of the most unusual correctional experiments ever attempted. An experiment utilizing new techniques in rehabilitation that are meeting with dramatic success in changing the attitudes and behavior of juvenile delinquents. This is an episode of Walter Cronkite's the twentieth Century about an experimental youth rehabilitation program that opened in 1950 in New Jersey called Highfields. The therapy at Highfields was based on guided group interaction. The guided group interaction meeting is the core of the High Fields technique. The group insists that its members be frank and truthful, and only when they are can real progress be made. The influences of the group are used to change the individual. The juvenile delinquents at Highfields were far more receptive to guided group interaction than adult prisoners were. And the program earned the praise of youth court judges, academics and private funding agencies as a more humane alternative to long term incarceration.

[Marcus Chatfield]

These peer group methods were assumed to be therapeutic because the belief was by having the kids police each other, they could say the kids were self directed. They are taking an active role in their own rehabilitation instead of an authority forcing it on them. So guided group interaction was considered to be democratic.

[Narrator]

So basically it was homegrown American made democratic brainwashing. Guided group interaction caught on during the 1950s and in the 60s programs like Highfields opened up across the country, and that growth was fueled by political and financial support from governmental and private agencies, including the Ford foundation, which was the largest philanthropic organization in the United States.

[Marcus Chatfield]

The Ford foundation was really interested in transforming the correctional system and was sold on this idea of guided group interaction really being the answer. The Ford foundation especially was instrumental in promoting experimental programs that took those methods and normalized them. So you have guided group interaction really influencing the design of the American therapeutic community.

[Narrator]

Almost everything Marcus laid out was happening while Chuck Diedrich, the founder of Synanon, was still struggling with alcoholism. By the time Diedrich began using his own version of guided group interaction to treat heroin addicts, the therapy had become more mainstream.

[Marcus Chatfield]

When Synanon was discovered by the first wave of sociologists, there was already a massive interest in using confrontational group sessions as treatment. So that framework was already there.

[Narrator]

Up until this point, this method had been used on juvenile delinquents. Synanon demonstrated that guided group interaction was just as effective for addicts. And in the early 1970s, across the country in suburban South Florida, where there was an exploding population of pot smoking, middle class teenagers, Art Barker stepped in and combined the elements of addiction treatment that were happening in programs like Synanon with the delinquency treatment happening at programs like Highfields. And he created the seed. That's the abbreviated history of the origins of the troubled teen industry. A quick Internet search immediately turns up many different flowcharts trying to connect all the dots. Most of them start with Synanon. But really, synonym was one of many forces that came together to form the troubled teen industry.

[Marcus Chatfield]

There's been this myth that the troubled teen industry miraculously was birthed out of Synanon. I bought into that myth for a long time and I thought that must be how it happened. But there's really no need to speculate because there is so much evidence available. And the history that's evident is crazy enough and challenging to get your mind around. And that's really why I became a historian, to try to understand the larger significance of how it relates to American history. What is it about America that produced Straight? I knew it was more than just a story about some weird drug rehab. It wasn't just simply a cult, because so much harm was allowed to happen in these warehouses without windows. And everybody knew something weird was going on in there, but nobody stopped it. And not only did nobody stop it, the most powerful people in the world were promoting it.

[Narrator]

Straight Incorporated harnessed the potential of a psychological technology that had Evolved over decades and used it to build the largest teen rehab in the country by converting teenagers into true believers who recruited more teenagers to keep the program growing even bigger. Throughout the 1980s, Straight gained powerful supporters. First, it was judges and politicians. Then it was the first lady and the princess of Wales. By the end of the decade, it was the president of the United States of America. Watching a helpless child struggle with a drug problem is tragic. It'll do nothing less than tear your heart out. But there are people who can help. And that's why I'm so pleased to talk to you about straight. This is president George Herbert Walker Bush recording a public service announcement for strait, inc. From the White house. Organizations like straight give us added strength in waging the war against drugs. And like most wars, we must win it to protect our children. In 1989, George Bush continued in the tradition of giving a presidential seal of approval to strait, incorporated. But his connection to the organization started a decade earlier when he met the founder of strait, mel sembler.

[Marcus Chatfield]

In 1979, a gentleman came to see me by the name of George Herbert.

[Narrator]

Walker Bush, and he wanted to be president of the United States. Sembler met Bush when he was making his first run for president. Sembler helped him raise money for his campaign in Florida. They struck up a friendship that turned into a political alliance.

[Marcus Chatfield]

In 1987, Bush contacted me and he said, look, I'm getting ready to run for president. I need you back in my campaign again.

[Narrator]

Mel Sembler took on an active role as a political fundraiser in George Bush's second presidential campaign, even kicking in $100,000 of his own money. His support paid off. Bush won the election, and Sembler was made ambassador to Australia. Better yet, he had a direct line to the White House, and the commander in chief was a friend of the program. By the early 1990s, Strait had opened 11 locations in seven states across the country from Florida to California. It had become the national program that Mel Sembler had always envisioned. Strait, inc's brand recognition was at an all time high. But with any popular product comes imitators. Since straight was so highly endorsed, it inspired copycat programs which started popping up all over the country. My name is Nelson. I'm 22 years old. The drugs I've done are pot, alcohol treated pot, valium, rush, pcp, cocaine. What you're witnessing is a unique rehabilitation program called kids. But one of those programs was a little too familiar. It was not only inspired, it was the brainchild of its most infamous disciple, the embodiment of everything evil about the program. The former national clinical director of Straight incorporated. Okay, I'm Dr. Miller Newton, the president and clinical director of Kitzbergen County. Next time on the Sunshine Place. You know, I know what I'm doing here. I know I have a great deal of care for kids. I know I would not run a.

[Marcus Chatfield]

Program that I would not put my own child through.

[Narrator]

Miller Newton is back with another program and another scam. Clients all suffer from what Dr. Newton calls compulsions. Drug, alcohol, behavior, and even eating. Compulsions are all treated the same way. It's the 1990s, and there's a whole new list of pathologies for him to weaponize.

[Marcus Chatfield]

There was hyperactivity. There was learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders. There was eating disorders.

[Narrator]

Parents still believe that Dr. Miller Newton has all the answers, but for their kids, the stakes are higher than ever. I could have died from their treatment. It was just like, hold this person down, make sure that they don't vomit. It was completely unprofessional and medically unsound and dangerous. The Sunshine Place is an Odyssey original podcast. It's written, directed and produced by Perry Crowell. Our writer producer is Margot Gray. Our story editors are Maddie Sprung Keyser and Lloyd Lockridge. Executive producer by Robert Downey Jr. Susan Downey and Emily Barclay Ford from Team Downey, Jenna Weiss Berman and Maddie Sprung Kaiser from Odyssey and Josh McLaughlin. Edited by Perry Crowell. Mixing and mastering by Bill Schultz. Production support from Sean Cherry and Paul Andrejak and narrated by me, Cindy Ettler. Special thanks to J.D. crowley, Leah Reese, Dennis, Maura Ker, Josephina Francis, Kurt Courtney and Hilary Schuff. If you want to hear more of the Sunshine Place, please take a moment to rate and review the show. It really helps. You might think financial crime is all about money, but sometimes it ends in murder. I'm Nicole Lapin, host of Money Crimes, a crime house original podcast. Each episode features a thrilling story about the dark side of finance and how to protect yourself from it. Follow and listen to Money Crimes and Odyssey podcast in partnership with Crimehouse Studios. Available on the free Odyssey app and wherever you get your podcasts.