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The "troubled teens industry" definitely has a lot of weird stuff going on. Some of the institutions are are bad-faith operations that were always scams (or wor

The "troubled teens industry" definitely has a lot of weird stuff going on. Some of the institutions are are bad-faith operations that were always scams (or worse); some were well-intentioned but were managed in a way that produced abuses nonetheless. Maybe a few actually did a good job helping out troubled kids, but it does not seem to be the norm. This is perhaps a place where internet culture has been somehow ahead of the curve in a positive way. Former residents have been organizing online and exchanging information for a few decades. I believe the longest-running forum for discussions is the one at fornits.com: https://www.fornits.com/phpbb/ https://www.fornits.com/phpbb/. This site has been around for about 20 years, and used to also have a wiki with extensive information about specific institutions. Alas, the wiki seems to be down for several years now, and the discussion board is a few years past its peak of activity too. More recently, I believe reddit is the most active discussion forum: https://www.reddit.com/r/troubledteens/ https://www.reddit.com/r/troubledteens/

newbie789 5y ago
I’ve never heard of that fornits site but I found my facility (Cross Creek) on it! The thread hasn’t been updated in over a decade and that makes sense, since last I heard it had “shut down” and been “replaced” by a “completely different” program owned and operated by the same group of people.
Cullinet 5y ago
accessible reddit link : https://old.reddit.com/r/troubledteens/ https://old.reddit.com/r/troubledteens/
dalbasal 5y ago
In a lot of ways, good faith, "fix people" institutions are the worst. Belief in a system, religious, psychiatric, social or whatnot can allow good people to override their common sense interpretations. Early modern prisons were designed to help/fix people. Some were designed by moral philosophers, experts in ethics. These became nightmarish, producing more psychological injury than many intentionally punitive models like "hard labour."
- threatofrain 5y ago
  Good faith is worse than... bad faith? Or worse than pure intuition? Because people have had intuition for all time, and they've never stopped using it, including herbal cure remedies for cancer. The option to go without institutional care is already there for anyone without enough money, and it's being exercised all the time, all around the world. Even when you choose institutions you must exercise intuition.
  - dalbasal 5y ago
    I meant worse than bad faith, not always... But sometimes in these circumstances. Maybe "no faith" is closer to the mark. Reformatories with no ideals, just trying to stay open and make ends meet. I suppose the canonical example is the Spanish inquisition, and the rest of the conquista culture. They were saving people from hell, barbarism, sin and such. Also Russian gulags, Canadian residential schools, and many other examples. A "for your own good" mentality has often resulted in some of the worst institutions, or at least a distinctive flavour of bad.
    - int_19h 5y ago
      Gulags are not a particularly good example of this, since they were never really meant to reform anyone - that was propaganda from the get-go.
dmos62 5y ago
A teen I know was committed for anorexia. It's obligatory when you hit a certain body weight. Another teen there slit her wrists with something sharp she managed to pull out of a wall. She didn't do much damage to herself. The nurse patched her up and tied her to her bed, all the while degrading and abusing her verbally. Kids wrote a letter to the doctor in charge, complaining about the nurse, but the nurse was back at work soon after. The number of hours she gets was reduced, I believe. This is a public institution in a first world country. A caring and therapeutic mindset is just too much to ask of some people or places.
deleted 5y ago
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newbie789 5y ago

I’ve never heard of that fornits site but I found my facility (Cross Creek) on it! The thread hasn’t been updated in over a decade and that makes sense, since last I heard it had “shut down” and been “replaced” by a “completely different” program owned and operated by the same group of people.

Cullinet 5y ago

accessible reddit link : https://old.reddit.com/r/troubledteens/ https://old.reddit.com/r/troubledteens/

dalbasal 5y ago

In a lot of ways, good faith, "fix people" institutions are the worst. Belief in a system, religious, psychiatric, social or whatnot can allow good people to override their common sense interpretations. Early modern prisons were designed to help/fix people. Some were designed by moral philosophers, experts in ethics. These became nightmarish, producing more psychological injury than many intentionally punitive models like "hard labour."

threatofrain 5y ago
Good faith is worse than... bad faith? Or worse than pure intuition? Because people have had intuition for all time, and they've never stopped using it, including herbal cure remedies for cancer. The option to go without institutional care is already there for anyone without enough money, and it's being exercised all the time, all around the world. Even when you choose institutions you must exercise intuition.
- dalbasal 5y ago
  I meant worse than bad faith, not always... But sometimes in these circumstances. Maybe "no faith" is closer to the mark. Reformatories with no ideals, just trying to stay open and make ends meet. I suppose the canonical example is the Spanish inquisition, and the rest of the conquista culture. They were saving people from hell, barbarism, sin and such. Also Russian gulags, Canadian residential schools, and many other examples. A "for your own good" mentality has often resulted in some of the worst institutions, or at least a distinctive flavour of bad.
  - int_19h 5y ago
    Gulags are not a particularly good example of this, since they were never really meant to reform anyone - that was propaganda from the get-go.

dmos62 5y ago

A teen I know was committed for anorexia. It's obligatory when you hit a certain body weight. Another teen there slit her wrists with something sharp she managed to pull out of a wall. She didn't do much damage to herself. The nurse patched her up and tied her to her bed, all the while degrading and abusing her verbally. Kids wrote a letter to the doctor in charge, complaining about the nurse, but the nurse was back at work soon after. The number of hours she gets was reduced, I believe. This is a public institution in a first world country. A caring and therapeutic mindset is just too much to ask of some people or places.

deleted 5y ago

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