Behavior Modification and Brainwashing

For-Profit Therapy Damaging America’s Youth

If you were to poll the average American about the use of behavior modification and brainwashing in today’s society, they would likely respond by naming cults, POW camps, secret government agencies, and foreign propaganda films. Should you attempt to explain that these tactics are currently being used today in America against unwilling children and teenagers, they would likely respond in disbelief.

For those of us who have endured the troubled teen industry, we understand firsthand that these practices are alive, well and thriving in this underground industry.  While a comprehensive total of the number of privately run “behavior modification” facilities for teens and children is unknown, it is estimated that tens of thousands of children move through this system every year, virtually unknown to the general public.  Due to lack of Federal (and in many cases State) oversight, these programs are able to operate independently without licensure, inspections, or any comprehensive definition of the type of treatment, length of stay, or admission requirements that they must adhere to.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, behavior modification and brainwashing are defined as the following:

Behavior Modification: psychotherapy that is concerned with the treatment (as by desensitization or aversion therapy) of observable behaviors rather than underlying psychological processes and that applies principles of learning to substitute desirable responses for undesirable ones (as phobias or obsessions) —called also behavioral therapy, behavior therapy

Brainwashing:  a forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up basic political, social, or religious beliefs and attitudes and to accept contrasting regimented ideas, 2: persuasion by propaganda or salesmanship

While these definitions seem vague by nature, a brief search on facilities currently operating the United States notes the following within their literature – all quite similar to the definitions described above:

Island View – a high-impact residential treatment facility operated by Aspen Education Group with ties to Republican candidate Mitt Romney‘s former company, Bain Capital – offers the following advice to parents as to how not to sabotage their child’s treatment opportunities.

What do you mean by “shutting the door?”

Imagine that your child is standing in a corridor with both sides lined with doors. There is a door at the other end of the corridor. That’s the door you want your child to go through. It is the door that leads to success, well-being and personal happiness – in your opinion. Unfortunately, your child thinks that walking through that door is stupid, impractical, lame, not cool and utterly ridiculous. Perhaps at some conscious or unconscious level, he may have a desire to walk through the door but fear of the unknown, effort to get to the door, or any other underlying issues may make it impossible for him to walk through this door without some sort of a assistance.

The problem is that he is being distracted by all the other doors that are lining the corridor. To you, the signs on the doors read: Party, Drugs, Negative Friends, Hanging Out, School Failure, Depression, Psycho-Neurological Problem, Learning Difference, Manipulation, Excuses, You Don’t Understand, Loss of a Close Friend, Divorce, Low Self-Esteem, etc.

Your child, distracted or mitigated by these doors will opt to slip through one or more of these doors. If we let him do so, will he ever get through the door at the end of the hall? Maybe, but when? This year, next year, when he is 20? The reason you place the child in a treatment facility is that you thought that the time is NOW to make the change.

The best way to make it happen NOW, is to shut all other doors so that the only door that can be opened is the one you want him to walk through – the one at the end of the hall.

Shepherd’s Hill Academy, a private Christian behavior modification center in rural Georgia describes its multi-step programs as the following:

New Creations Wilderness Therapy:

The challenge of living in the woods without electricity or flowing water takes the teens out of their comfort zone. It requires they learn new and more effective coping and teamwork skills.  They participate in experiencing life without the negative cultural influences that so often draw attention away from the responsibilities and obligations of the real world.  Rights and privileges are taught to be exercised only to the degree that responsibilities and obligations are fulfilled.

Without a healthy concept of authority, teens have no reference point for moral right and wrong. As the teens see staff and leadership submit to God, an Authority greater than themselves, the reference point becomes clear. This, in turn, fosters a sense of security which frees the teens to better submit to their authority figures and to God.

Our ability to think and reason is rooted in the spiritual nature of our being. As the confusion of the culture is removed, they are challenged to choose and think for themselves about the reality of the inevitable issues of life such as origin, meaning, morality, and destiny.

Next-Step Program:

Upon transitioning to the Next Step Program, the resident moves out of the wilderness program and into a home on campus. They are allowed more individual freedom and chances to make “right choices.” They also have the opportunity to gain back certain privileges they did not enjoy in the wilderness program, such as TV and video games. The Next Step Program offers the teen a chance to exercise their new healthy behavior patterns while living in a safe and structured environment. Although they are still in a controlled environment, they have many more opportunities where they must choose the way they will act and/or react to any number of societal situations. They are assisted in practicing healthy social interactions and relationships with their peers in a supervised environment. In other words, they get to practice behaving appropriately in the real world.

All in all, Shepherd’s Hill Academy embodies the qualities necessary to transform trouble teens into productive, caring, and spiritually mature young men and women.  With God’s help, we strive to bring about the necessary behavioral changes in struggling teens to become responsible and fruitful citizens who know how to think!

The Judge Rottenberg Center, a special needs program located in Canton, Massachusetts that accepts students as young as eight years old struggling with Autism, Aspergers, and other “severe, case-hardened problem behaviors” offers a few highlights of it’s “holistic” medication-free program.

Use of highly consistent application of behavior modification procedures both in the education/treatment of its students and in the management of its staff.  JRC offers intensive behavioral treatment based on peer-reviewed and accepted methods of behavioral psychology, which has been extremely effective for students who could not be effectively treated with psychotropic medication, psychotherapy, or positive only behavioral programming.

Positive reinforcement and non-intrusive procedures are tried first to determine if they can be sufficiently effective. If not, JRC considers supplementing them with professional approved “aversive” behavior modification techniques such as brief shock to the surface of the skin.

The most commonly used restrictive procedure at JRC is an electrical stimulation device that JRC manufactures called the Graduated Electronic Decelerator (“GED”).  The GED unit consists of a transmitter operated by a JRC staff member and a receiver worn by the student.  The receiver delivers a low-level surface application of electrical current to the student’s skin upon command from the transmitter, as part of a designed behavioral treatment.  Minor side effects may consist of a redding of the skin and, on rare occasions, a small blister may appear if the device is not making full contact with the skin.

The implementation of the GED device leads to the immediate deceleration of a student’s aggressive and self-injurious behaviors, allowing that student to progress both academically as well as socially.  For the approximately 50% of the current JRC population that have the GED as part of their treatment program, the average (median) student received only one two-second application during that week.  46% received no applications at all and 78% received fewer than ten applications during the entire week.

For most of us, it is unthinkable to consider the very idea that these types of facilities exist and are exercising these practices.  The following links offer unique, brutal glimpses into the types of torture, abuse, and brainwashing being forced upon teenagers in the name of “behavior modification.”

GRAPHIC:  VIDEO FOOTAGE OF ACTUAL PASADENA BOOT CAMP                                                                                

FORMER STAFF MEMBERS DISCUSSES THE CEDU SCHOOL’S & THEIR PHILOSOPHY OF “EMOTIONAL GROWTH” TRAINING

ACTUAL PROMOTIONAL VIDEO FROM PROVO CANYON SCHOOL EXPLAINING THAT EDUCATION IS “PART OF THE MIX”

DOCU-SHORT ON THE JUDGE ROTENBERG CENTER’S USE OF ELECTRIC SHOCK THERAPY

CLIP ON CEDU’S LIFESPRING STYLE LARGE GROUP AWARENESS THERAPY CALLED “PROPHEETS”

PROMOTIONAL VIDEO FOR WWASP’S FORMER SEMINAR PARTNER RESOURCE REALIZATIONS “DISCOVERY” SEMINAR (MANDATORY FOR ALL STUDENTS)

LATEST GRADUATES OF THE PARENT”S DISCOVERY SEMINAR BY RESOURCE REALIZATIONS

PARENTS RECEIVED DISCOUNTED TUITION FOR ALL REFERRALS SENT TO WWASP FACILITIES.  HERE IS A VIDEO CREATED BY PARENTS OF WWASP STUDENTS

Get Involved: How You Can Help

What are the Facts?

Each year, tens of thousand of American children are forcibly sent against their will to private, for-profit “treatment” facilities across the United States and abroad.

These children are sent away by desperate parents, often looking for an alternative means of coping with their child’s behavior. Encouraged by marketing websites, parents are convinced that the only way to help their teenager and save their family is to send the child away – sometimes for years at a time – for intense behavior modification.

Operating under many different names – wilderness therapy programs, boot camps, behavior modification centers, residential treatment facilities, specialty boarding schools, and emotional growth academies – these programs exist without any standard definition, are not regulated by any Federal oversight, and many operate without State regulation as mental health facilities or educational providers. (see FTC report here)

These facilities often promote the use of escort services to transport children to the program.   As many children are unwilling to go to these facilities, this option allows parents to hire a fully-legal company to come to their home – often in the middle of the night – and forcibly restrain or handcuff the child and take them to the program of their choice.

A 2007 Report by GAO indicated that abuse within these programs was widespread and lack of oversight and regulation resulted in the unnecessary death and injury of many youth within these programs.  Many of these programs utilize treatments that have not been proven to be safe or effective and, in many cases, have led to PTSD or other psychological problems as a result of their use.

Some of these methods include attack therapy, large group awareness therapy, Lifespring or EST based seminar trainings, aversion therapy, seclusion & restraint, and intense behavior modification therapy.

Why is this a Problem?

Of the children sent to these programs, a widespread number report having experienced trauma – both during and after the program – as a result of their treatment.

A survey conducted by the Alliance for the Safe, Therapeutic and Appropriate use of Residential Treatment (ASTART) in 2006 reached out to 700 youth who had attended 85 programs -located in 23 states and 5 different countries.  This sample is similar to other findings found by the Community Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of Youth (CAFETY).

Of the 700 students surveyed by ASTART, these children reported the following:

USE OF ESCORT SERVICES:

• Trauma reported – 48%

COMMUNICATION AND PRIVACY RIGHTS VIOLATIONS:

• Mail-monitoring – 93%

• Call-monitoring – 96%

• Filtered, restricted or interrupted correspondence – 86%

PHYSICAL RESTRAINT

• Experienced physical restraint – 34%

• Witnessed peers physically restrained – 60%

INNAPORPORIATE USE OF SECULAITON AND RESTRAINTS AS A RESULT OF:

• Breaking a program rule – 67%

• Saying something disrespectful – 52%

• Cursing – 48%

• Making a face – 30%

INHUMANE TREATMENT:

• Forced labor – 71%

• Restricted access to the bathroom – 68%

• Scare tactics – 63%

• Exposure to harsh elements like extreme heat, snow or rain – 60%

• Excessive exercise – 58%

• Food/nutritional deprivation – 43%

• Sleep deprivation – 41%

• Physical punishment – 31%

• Emotional, physical or sexual abused by staff – 45%

EDUCATION AND MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT

• No individualized plan – 60%

• Not satisfied with the training background of the staff members who were providing education, therapy, support and/or care –  87%

Further studies by government agencies, reporters, independent organizations, and private individuals have found similar cases of abuse, death, and inhumane treatment.

How Can you Get Involved?

1.  CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS TO PROMOTE THE PASSING OF HR. 3126 ANDS. 1667.

These bills will help to provide Federal oversight of these facilities.  It only takes a brief moment to show your support.  The more letters and information sent, the more likely these bills are to pass.  It only takes two minutes to add your letter of in support of this legislation to help change the life of a child.

2. EDUCATE YOURSELF AND OTHERS

There are a litany of great, free films and documentaries available that provide a unique look into this industry.  Where words sometimes can’t capture the horrors of these facilities, watching live interviews and footage in undeniable truth.

Tranquility Bay Documentary- Les enfants perdus de Tranquility Bay (2005)

English-language pic by Gallic Mathieu Verboud and Jean Robert Viallet provides a unique inside look into Tranquility Bay, the notoriously abusive World Wide Association of Specialty Schools (WWASP) Jamaican facility, as well as insight into other WWASP programs.  Rare footage and interviews with school directors and founders.  Excellent film.

Part 1 and Part 2 are both available for free streaming on Live Leak.

Who’s Watching the Kids? –  Montana PBS
Who’s Watching The Kids? There are more than 30 privately run schools for troubled youth operating in the state of Montana. They employ more than 600 people and pump an estimated 4 million into the state income taxes. It’s an exploding industry, but strangely, most Montanans have no idea the schools even exist. In this hour-long documentary, Montana PBS explores a lucrative industry praised for its novel approach to reforming youth, yet shrouded in disturbing allegations of abuse and neglect.

Free Streaming is Available Through PBS Montana

Double Feature: Over the GW & Aaron Bacon
by: Nick Gaglia (survivor of Kids of North Jersey) 

Over the GW (2007) is based on Nick Gaglia’s own experiences as a drug-addicted teen who underwent physical and psychological abuse at a cult-like, tough love rehab center. Tony Serra a drug-abusing Bronx teen whose worried mom (Julia Moriarty) checks him into a New Jersey rehabilitation clinic where physical restraint, mental abuse and will-breaking brainwashing are routine therapies.

Aaron Bacon (2009) – Inspired by the book “Help at Any Cost” by Maia Szalavitz, this film is based on the true story of a 16-year-old boy who dies as a result of malpractice and abuse in a wilderness program.

These films are both available for free streaming on Nick’s fansite.

3. SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE PROMOTING REFORM AND CHANGE

Without support, organizations such as these cannot continue to advocate on behalf of troubled teens.  Their efforts have led to teach-outs, protests, potential legislation, and great media coverage of our cause.  Please, get involved if you can or donate if you can’t.  We need your support!

Community Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of Youth (CAFETY)

The members of CAFETY envision the day that no young person is harmed in the name of treatment and when youth are empowered to be equal partners in their own care.  They have advocated tirelessly on behalf of troubled youth not only to provide statistical research and data to support claims of abuse and neglect, but also to protest, speak out, and work with politicians to help draft legislation.

National Youth Rights Association (NYRA)

NYRA’s mission centers on challenging age discrimination against young people, both in law and in attitudes and supporting the basic freedoms afforded to young Americans in the Bill of Rights.  They have worked closely with CAFETY in recent protests and also provide advocacy to those youth who have endured – or will endure – the hardships of the troubled teen industry.

Alliance for the Safe, Therapeutic, & Appropriate Use of Residential Treatment (ASTART)

A START, the Alliance for the Safe, Therapeutic, and Appropriate Use of Residential Treatment, is an organization of mental health professionals, parents, advocates, and young adults who came together in 2005 amidst growing concern about mistreatment of youth in residential programs.

The Hobbit - Actual WWASP Isolation Room in the US where kids spent years.