A Behavioral Analysis of a Social Control Agency: Synanon

• Author: Roland C. Bower,Robert L. Karen
• Date: 01 January 1968
• Published date: 01 January 1968
• DOI: 10.1177/002242786800500102
• Subject Matter: Articles

18

A Behavioral

Analysis

of

a

Social

Control

Agency:

Synanon

ROBERT

L.

KAREN

Associate

Professor,

San

Diego

College

Ph.D.,

(Psychology),

1965,

Arizona

State

University

ROLAND

C.

BOWER

Assistant

Professor,

San

Diego

State

College

M.A.

(Sociology),

1961,

University

of

California,

Los

Angeles

The

function

of

the

therapeutic

agency

is

essentially

no

more

than

the

control

of

social

behavior,

and

agents

of

the

therapeutic

agency

use

techniques

based

on

a

particular

theory

of

behavior

causation

and

control.

In

the

behavioral

analysis,

emphasis

is

placed

on

past

and

present

environmental

conditions

and

their

effects

on

current

behavior.

The

agent

or

therapist

thus

manipu-

lates

the

person’s

environment

to

produce

changes

in

behavior

through

social

interaction.

Synanon,

a

group

aimed

at

rehabilitating

narcotics

addicts,

provides

an

interesting

example

of

a

social

control

agency

in

a

setting

which

uses,

among

other

things,

principles

of

operant

conditioning

(conditioning

of

speech

and

movement)

through

the

definition

of

overt

response

classes

(responses

having

similar

or

identical

consequences

and

occurring

in

the

same

stimulus

situation),

response

contingent

consequences

(consequences

that

consistently

occur

as

the

result

of

certain

responses—reinforce-

ment

or

punishment),

and

other

behavior

control

procedures

through

its

program

of

membership

interaction.

Documents,

interviews,

and

field

observations

provide

examples

of

Synanon

procedures

(especially

operant

conditioning)

that

are

analogous

to

those

employcd

by

modern

behavior

therapists.

Synanon’s

program,

although

it

has

some

weaknesses,

is

relatively

successful

in

helping

the

member

to

overcome

his

addiction

to

narcotics.

HE

PURPOSE

OF

THIS

REPORT

is

to

T make

a

behavioral

analysis

of

an

agency

of

social

control

called

Synanon,

whose

primary

function

is

to

eliminate

the

addict’s

dependence

on

drugs

through

the

creation

of

so-

cially

desirable

behavior.i

Synanon

was

chosen

for

analysis

in

the

belief

that

it

provides

a

good

example

of

a

1

Synanon

is

a

volunteer,

nonprofit

organi-

zation

of

former

drug

addicts

and

a

small

but

increasing

percentage

of

other

persons

with

"character

disorders"

(5

to

15

per

cent

during

1966) ,

started

in

Santa

Monica,

Calif.,

in

1958.

Synanon

Houses

are

currently

oper-

ating

in

several

major

cities,

with

an

esti-

mated

population

of

approximately

800

in

1967.

D.

Casriel,

So

Fair

A

House:

The

Story

of

Synanon

(Englewood

Cliffs,

N.J.:

Prentice-

Hall,

1963);

E. L.

Markoff,

"The

Dynamics

19

social

control

agency

employing

be-

havior

control

techniques

derivable

from

the

laws

and

principles

of

cur-

rent

behavior

theory

(albeit

probably

more

by

accident

than

intent),

and

particularly

from

the

principles

of

operant

behavior.

Therapeutic

or

social

control

agen-

cies

differ

in

the

relative

emphasis

they

place

on

conditions

antecedent

to

the

behavior

to

be

controlled,

the

types

of

behavior

with

which

they

.ieal,

what

constitutes

&dquo;good&dquo;

and

&dquo;bad&dquo;

behavior,

and

the

control

tech-

niques

they

use.

One

currently

popular

view

asserts

that

there

are

two

sets

of

antecedent

conditions:

(1)

significant

physical

states

or

environmental

events

which

characterize

the

case

history

and

cur-

rent

situation

of

the

person

and

(2)

mental

or

psychic

events

or

states

which

are

the

result

of

these

physical

and

environmental

conditions.

Both

of

these

factors

affect

the

patient’s

verbal

and

motor

behavior.

Thera-

pies

emerging

from

this

point

of

view

stress

a

passive

role

by

the

therapist

aimed

at

the

manipulation

of

the

psychic

state

of

the

patient

rather

than

his

verbal

and

motor

behavior.2

Recently

another

view

has

de-

veloped

which

assumes

a

direct

rela-

tionship

between

the

physical

and

en-

vironmental

antecedent

events

and

verbal

and

motor

behavior.

This

view

de-emphasizes

the

role

of

psychic

events.

Therapies

arising

from

it

re-

quire

an

active

role

by

the

therapist

involving

environmental

manipula-

tion.8

THE

OPERANT

PARADIGM

The

operant

paradigm

deals

with

physical

and

motor

responses

and

in-

cludes

other

important

characteris-

tics :

a.

It

employs

directly

observable

be-

havior

processes

(i.e.,

response

classes

for

which

observational

procedures

are

highly

objective

and

reliable).

Such

response

classes

are

easy

to

quantify;

the

most

commonly

used

of

Synanon—A

Study

of

Methods

in

the

Modification

of

Behavioral

Disorders,"

thesis

for

M.S.

in

psychiatry,

University

of

Cali-

fornia,

Los

Angeles,

1964;

M.

S.

Cherkas,

"Synanon—A

Radical

Approach

to

the

Prob-

lem

of

Addiction,"

American

Journal

of

Psychiatry,

May

1965,

pp.

1065-68;

L.

Yablon-

sky,

The

Tunnel

Back:

Synanon

(New

York:

Macmillan,

1965).

Where

no

footnote

is

given

for

a

statement

concerning

Synanon

practices,

the

material

has

been

drawn

from

numerous

interviews

and

observations

which

took

place

over

a

period

of

several

years

in

two

major

Synanon

Houses.

2

S.

Freud,

A

General

Introduction

to

Psy-

choanalysis

(New

York:

Garden

City

Pub-

lishing

Co.,

1943);

C.

R.

Rogers,

Client-

Centered

Therapy

(Boston:

Houghton

Mif-

flin,

1951).

3 Works

highlighting

the

behavioral

ap-

proach

include

B.

F.

Skinner,

Science

and

Human

Behavior

(New

York:

Macmillan,

1953) ;

C. B.

Ferster,

"Reinforcement

and

Punishment

in

the

Control

of

Human

Be-

havior

by

Social

Agencies,"

Psychiatric

Re-

search

Reports,

No.

10,

1958,

pp.

101-18;

A.

Bandura,

"Psychotherapy

as

a

Learning

Process,"

Psychological

Bulletin,

March

1961,

pp.

143-59;

T.

Ayllon

and

E.

Haughton,

"Control

of

the

Behavior

of

Schizophrenic

Patients

by

Food,"

Journal

of

the

Experi-

mental

Analysis

of

Behavior,

July

1962,

pp.

343-52;

L.

Krasner,

"The

Psychotherapist

as

a

Social

Reinforcement

Machine,"

H.

H.

Strupp

and

L.

Luborsky,

eds.

Research

in

Psychotherapy

(Washington,

D.C.:

American

Psychological

Association,

1962) ;

R.

E.

Bueh-

ler,

G.

R.

Patterson,

and

J.

M.

Furniss,

"The

Reinforcement

of

Behavior

in

Institutional

Settings,

"Behavior

Research

and

Therapy,

August

1966,

pp.

157-67;

R.

L.

Burgess

and

R.

L.

Akers,

"A

Differential

Association-

Reinforcement

Theory

of

Criminal

Behavior,"

Social

Problems,

Fall

1966,

pp.

128-47;

R.

Schwitzgebel,

"Short-term

Operant

Condition-

ing

of

Adolescent

Offenders

on

Socially

Rele-

vant

Variables,"

Journal

of

Abnormal

Psy-

chology,

April

1967,

pp.

134-42.