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Table of contents What's This?
  • Conditions Governing Access
  • Conditions Governing Use
  • Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
  • Existence and Location of Copies
  • Provenance/Source of Acquisition
  • Preferred Citation
  • Processing Information
  • UCLA Catalog Record ID
  • Biographical / Historical
  • Scope and Contents
  • Related Oral Histories
  • Related Materials
  • Online Items Available

  • Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections
    Title: Synanon Foundation records
    Identifier/Call Number: LSC.0342
    Physical Description: 341.0 linear feet (564 boxes, 118 cartons, and 32 boxes)
    Date (inclusive): circa 1956-1987
    Abstract: Synanon was founded by Charles Dederich, Sr. in 1958. Synanon's detoxification therapy attracted wealthy drug and alcohol abusers with chapters in San Francisco, Tulare and Marin Counties, Detroit, and as far as Germany and Malaysia. The collection consists of correspondence, recordings, films, video tapes, photographs, and printed materials related to the Synanon Foundation.
    Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
    Language of Material: Materials are in English.

    Conditions Governing Access

    Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

    Conditions Governing Use

    Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
    No copying (except by hand notes and/or note taking with a personal computer) for any purposes, including publication, or use for commercial purposes permitted without prior written approval by the Trustees of the Synanon Archives Trust, which retains copyright to the Synanon records. The names of Synanon members or residents shall not be revealed or used, nor shall members or residents be contacted unless prior written approval has been granted by the Trustees of the Synanon Archives Trust.

    Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

    CONTAINS AUDIO AND AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: This collection contains both processed and unprocessed audio and audiovisual materials. Audio and audiovisual materials are not currently available for access, unless otherwise noted in a Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note at the series and file levels. All requests to access processed materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

    Existence and Location of Copies

    Digital reproductions of some audiovisual materials are available for viewing in the Library Special Collections reading room.

    Provenance/Source of Acquisition

    Gift of The Synanon Church, Incorporated, 1993.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Synanon Foundation records (Collection 342). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

    Processing Information

    Processed by Manuscripts Division staff.
    Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
    We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special Collections. 

    UCLA Catalog Record ID

    UCLA Catalog Record ID: 9932224023606533 

    Biographical / Historical

    Synanon was founded by Charles Dederich, Sr. in 1958; originally named TLC (Tender Loving Care Club), the group was renamed Synanon and had its headquarters in Santa Monica, California; Synanon's detoxification therapy attracted wealthy drug and alcohol abusers, and eventually the organization became a $30 million nonprofit organization; chapters sprang up in San Francisco, Tulare and Marin Counties, Detroit, and as far as Germany and Malaysia; Dederich declared Synanon a religion in 1974; Dederich was forced to give up control of Synanon in 1979 after pleading no contest to conspiracy to commit murder; Synanon quickly lost its popularity thereafter.

    Scope and Contents

    Collection consists of the records of the Synanon Foundation. Includes correspondence, recordings, films, video tapes, photographs, and printed materials.

    Related Oral Histories

    Online Items Available

    Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online: Synanon Foundation records (1 item) .

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Audiotapes.
    Group psychotherapy -- Archives.
    Detoxification (Substance abuse treatment) -- Archives.
    Dederich, Chuck
    Synanon (Foundation)--Archives.