How Synanon Went From Rehab Philosophy to Violent Cult

A former alcoholic named Charles Dederich established a recovery center in Santa Monica, California, in 1958. New partners, members and centers began springing up all across the United States as this tough-love method seemed to be the answer to a growing drug epidemic.

An essential component of this community was a cathartic screaming session known as "the game," during which members shouted and berated each other until the targeted member broke down and experienced an epiphany or revelation of personal growth.

Members who benefitted from the program eventually brought their partners and children into the fold. However, as the organization's potential grew, so did Dederich's ego and sense of power.

Former members of the group stated that Dederich's authoritarian edicts forced women to shave their heads and encouraged parents to undergo vasectomies, abortions and many more forms of strange and unusual punishment.

What began as a safe haven for a life-long recovery program for drug addicts became a controlled prison of sorts with cult practices and brainwashing programming. The cult allegedly perpetrated over 80 instances of mass beatings of adults and children, often in front of friends and families, at the hands of an internal group nicknamed the Imperial Marines.

This paramilitary group became the muscle behind Dederich's organization, and they were often tasked with hunting down, intimidating and sometimes attacking members who decided to leave Synanon.

Encouraged by their leader, two Synanon members placed a de-rattled rattlesnake in the mailbox of an oppositional attorney named Paul Morantz following an NBC Nightly News broadcast that exposed many of the group's alarming activities.

Morantz spent roughly a week in the hospital following the snake attack, and an investigation into why the organization would plan to commit murder to cover up their secrets began taking shape in 1978. Dederich and the two members pleaded guilty and were sentenced to five years probation.

Dederich was forced out of his leadership position and later died from cardiorespiratory failure in 1997 at the age of 83.

If you want to learn more about the rise and fall of Synanon, director Rory Kennedy has crafted a gripping four-part documentary series that is now streaming on HBO MAX.

The four episodes provide behind-the-scenes access to Synanon, with testimonies from people who lived the story, including Bill Goodson, Rod Mullen, Mike Gimbal, Terry Hurst, Phil Ritter and Rebekah Crawford.