ean company| The Elan Schoolbackstory would make him rch ut it wasnt unt he met Davidson, psychiatrist and Harvard lecturer that befound his true cling his wn full blown thera peat community, where cold implement his patcusrbrandfin-yourfae psychotherapy. The an School opened fr busines on May, 172 Rica somminsterngtothenation’shardest ofhard-uck cases (many of whom were provided foewith tate money) addts and inal wbo'd oxmnced fom all togrouphomeatohogpitalata rehabandback gsi. Alongside these felons, Ric welcomed refugees from Americas afflent sub UrbsKids whowe socal ebllion had led therm from Hendrix theron, Youngsters from Haslem slums worked out theirpain with the children of (Os from Chicago’ wealthy Nosh Shore. After the styea Hlanhad gresdents Ric was son prescing overastaent dyin hich residents were regularly shouted dawn by dozens oftheir peers. ‘veneer scene sponge ie yeu." *You ve eo parasite lou if "Mea hile, Rie duginto the emotional core of hist _g8ts "if you didnt come hers, youd be na mental institution, he would growl “People werent pt ‘neato accommadateyou "Joe was a Doberman. says Beret ult emer itus professor of paychiatry at New Yorks Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who refered several an tents inthe seventies “Hed sy, Now you lstenta wal goingtotell you asshole Because itegonnasaveyourwonthlesspiece of shite” “Joo was very challenging groups” ads Stuart ery, who entered Hanae 20-year-old junkie on peningdayandbecameits est actin sore briefly became a therpenticcectorthefllowing oat "Tere were some prety bad guy be needed them tounderstandlthiroade wasn't working” Berry was atypical Elan elite: white, middle dlassand strung out fom “lvingon the lunatic fringe’ ofthe sities. A grandson of a Cape Cod the elan school Pharmacist he'd found his way into Grandpa's ‘medicine locker aftera bookon the Hell's Anges (wiggered his eutcsty Druga turned out to bea set chaser for youthfulaienation, tas Berry soonleamed, chad hisowncare for apathy it began with hard werkand per pres ‘ute, sngthe stiet ierarchy ofa military out. Newcomers tied on kitchen and grounds crews ‘working thelr way through the rar, fom “ran appalled. Students were suited yp with hesdgese and sxtesn-ounce gloves Then the entire house ‘would form abninanringa the bully wasercedto duke tout with fou or ive people ina row. until ‘defeated. “There would be blood there would be eying there would becheeving," says Cindy Rob- bins a suburban-Chicago runaway and chronic truant who entered ian ina, at theageof6."A lott people were just afi, But i's not ke you “THERE WOULD BE BLOOD, THERE WOULD BE CRYING, THERE WOULD BE CHEERING,” AFORMER RESIDENT SAYS OF “THE RING.” rods” (crew foremen) to department heads to cexpeditors who acted as secret pice that "hooked incidents” of ad behavior on notepad and, inal, coordinators, who were changed with ‘versceing such house activities s group therapy "The goal was responsible citizenship? says Dalit who remain commitedo such ties“ fighting fe with fice. These are people who have caused enormous troublein theives And think people who tiptoe around these adolescents are ‘wimps You need powerhouse to fight power house. And joe wasthat model forme” aresident disobeyed an order othe fled to “eat hiselings ona regular basi punishment couldcomelnthe fem afa*haltut” At Daytop ths meant shaving one's headin tonement At Ela, it ‘became verbal fringsquad, KendZaetahy was Flan's2andresilent, eas He'd comefrom swank Highland Park lino, hooked on heroin, Though the program set him tight, he has many complaints abou Han’ ta tics-incdingthetimehe was accused stealing cigarettes, The punishment for such crime? A “generalmeeting”thehighestfomofetbution, Jnwhich hess, hewas forced est fouracksof cdgatetescoated with hatchupin front ofthe etree, nti he got sik “Things couldbeoutand outabusiv Zac secalls Now 4, he owns a suburban Chicago soft \warecompany and unsa Website, lanAlumcom, ‘where forme: Han residents (and their parents) compare experiences “They were mus from time to time," says Zaretsy. Stuart Berry claims the kid’ value as dolar signs outweighed any cause for concer. "oe was acepting them because oF themoneshesays ‘When Ricci began ordering quarrelsome resi dentstodigpointess ditchesandceatedaboxing ring asa learning tool for bullies, Berry was «ould step inand sop. You'd bepunished did likethat tall says ery of Rising “nutatthispoin Joe was ont ofc Sometimes Mhinkheaiitforhisownamusement” sun rnasrocassts, or acc yeeros ‘hentia iaatiapipecsenty hl suingeen engin pame Eun wetted epost coxumer th torah nica cy pls ty putes hanes psn eo renter egy Solis ane er tosndrethaton: On sang png Regge Tepito kane seer nce nears pg he Coan ate “inpethnnte guns aug Chev deeb ee troweinescashoe extn Sy wonpal gente Tete hmd-wie say be opm pnw stn eaten ee Ngan ial lg & seething bach pies™ eben eg iJoe,we'enothere to play Football Wereheretoget ‘ur shit togethex’ He made ussleep naked inthe dorm, guaided by guys with bats. had to weara, ‘ign around the house that said a 4 ss N01 c'inescrrais” Bat that wasnt the worst for Keanck, a witness inthe Skakelease After get- ting belligerent witha senior resident one dy, Kranick says, he was tripped to his underwea, forced toputon adiopermadecf anastyg"and ‘ordered toclimintoa Dumpsterand clean it with spoon nda taothbmsh,Thetasktooktwodays ‘When investigators from the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services made theirvisitin so75,they were hori by what they foundry Docherty, amembe ofthe team, sys Hans "bom- gsi" philosophy was well meaning, but that he ‘had doubts about ny postiveefacts "Youre rein Jorcingnegatve behavior with negative behavior” says Docherty. Ihadrel problems ith hat” expling“—They| should havebeen na nice. tam hospital Wewere absolutely notequipped” Ricci ded ofking cancer He was. During hisentce, 32-year tenure, Rit had vehe ‘ment defended his practices (Elan claims that 80 percent ofits graduates goon to college, though the school does nt Sllow upon chum academe succes thereafter), Ric also denied that Skakel ‘ver confessed tothe Moxley killing. Current school administatr, sil ling fom his death, refs to comment. “Though Rice can no longer defend his schoo, tndestanding what drove him may explain what took place there, Over the yeas, as residents swapped stores ofabuse, Bap, with its autocratic leader and is demand fr complete devotion, has drawn comparsonsto clts-stich asthe Peope= Ll AST JANUARY, ELAN FOUNDER JOF “YOU RUN THE RISK OF TRAINING, POCO. vas ‘SAYS ONE. PSYCHIATRIST. O OPERATE JUST THIS SIDE OF TEGAL’ ALS onikaly thes state ivestigtions at Ha— andthe later exoneration by Maine health ofls ‘wo ruled ha its therapy was innate appro pate, and beneficial" only emboldened Rieti sy Zaza who claims ta hae helped cower up practices daring the lini eview process “We lied through our teeth," says Zarek, five year Han vet who started out aa resident fd became therapeutic dzectorby the time he ‘vas 20.That was my family And my family was sander atac But everything the imestigatore sid was true, That should have been warning to mellow out. But we lett get worse,” Zaretzky belcves Elan’ practices violated resents’ ivi rights especially when they ran away and were Inunted down, “Weidbreak into shooting galeries inthe Boston sims places where our guys had sun off," he says "Weld ust grab them and say, “anybody that wants to ck wit us, your we: By 1975 Elan's Gey Davidson, the progra’s psychiatrie director and co-founder, had begun 2cepting “full biown’” mentally il patents, ays ‘atta. One ofthe biggest indies newer re. dents satered was the"eectresauce” Rumored to hhave contained feces, it was simple goo, says Zaretaky ofkitchen trash, syrup, mustard and Jetchup. Upon being coated in sauce, some res: dents woud scream, rp off theirlothes, and lash ‘tat counseorsand fellow residents “Wiecoule nat dea with these pooplZartey Temple and the Unification Church—with Rice standinginforKoo! Ai shillers ik jim ones "The _roup process was very powerful” says Professor Dalit ‘andin some espects. very cule” Rice igidinsistence on absolute faith in his tenets seems to have created an army of true believers. ut instead of producing believers, says Daytopcocrestor avid Ditch, now aprofesorof| clinical psychiatry athe University of California, ‘Sn Diego Rc may have ben turing ot "loset fascists Flan, it seems, empowered aggresive youngmen and women-tocrsh the weak and fragile ts residents Teamed to crave that power many became emotional despots "You run the skof taining sociopaths” says Dulit “They peope who perate just this side of legal, The other person never counts for much unlesshe canbe used orexplated’ ‘Over the yeas say former Elan stafmembers and resident, Rice! himself became cruel and vicious and hefteed others to dothe se. "Mall got crazy says Berry ofthe ery seventies. "He'd tnleash this rage on someone ina meeting for howe” An Han consultant, Marvin Sw, now chaman ofthe Department of Psychiatry at Glen (aks Hospital in ios and a Harvard classmate of Davidson’, efened more than sov adolescent patientsto the school Buty the decade'send, he says,"thetacis were destructive atherthan ther peutic” withthe sehools infamous haircuts Title orethan“symboliccastrations—andthese backstory ‘were sik ids” He aterguitin protest, By the easy eighties, several former residents claim, isan geting drunk and smnekingpot eg ‘ularly Though never proved this tainted the pro gran’ reibty and made residents cynical. One day.in 2984, the ternal atitude was so bad (by thistime, Ric had bought the state’ ages ar nessracetack, Searborogh Downe wou later sar two unsucesfil rin Sor govern that er ‘ral lan staff members were busted to entry-level positions. Ricci saunteredin says Ben Foster 2 former rut and suburban “burnout” who was 5 atthetime, and delivered hypocritical soioguy “rm going to go home pours nie glassof wine andsmoke join hetolda general meeting “And, youtreall going tobeherescrabing loors” Insg§7 woman named Bethany Bary aimed that she'd sulered slep- and food deprivation as ‘wllassssultasanlnresident betweenthe ages oft and 8 She later led lawsuit against the school Rik andthestateof Maine, hargingabuse ‘twas eventually settled out of court foranundis- close sum) Nootherformer residents who spoke {Detail say they have ay interest in suing: most ‘only want to put their toxic memories bind them. "They wasted two yeas of ou Ines" ays Bare Hues who entered Han in 1989214 afer Jhet mother placed her in psychiatric hospital “that pases mec Ruties done” Former residents wouldnt have much course ifthey changed their minds anyway: The Maine statute of limitations for physical or emotional use expires afer sx yeas. term that begins fr ‘minors on thei birdy Nevertheless, wary pethaps of such lawsuits, Flan has changed many ofits practices over the years. The school na longer forests resident to ‘wear humilatng sigs. There are no move spank ‘ngs. Andthe boxing ing hasn't bers in ver year, stopping coincidentally when the Skakel redia coverage was atts height, General meet ings ae still held here on occasion, 8 Elan’s| attorney, John Campbell tld Detaisinabviel Jeter,"when student has not been responsiveto otherleaming experiences”) Meanwhile the harsh glare that came with the ‘Shale ase maybe fading Accel witness Gregory Coleman. one oftwo fomeresdents wh aimed tohavelardthealleged confession dedof heroin ‘overdose in Angus, development that hs weak ened theprosecution'scas.As Dea wentto press, Slale'sattomey was seekingtoreturnthecaseto jwenile court, where, iFconvcted the Kennedy ‘cousin would ely fc itleornojaiime. ‘And backat the Han Schoo safe inthe woods. new stent boyisleaming how togetalong