> Elan School was apparently a behavior modification/"therapeutic" boarding school in Maine that engaged in some extremely controversial practices: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Élan_School
Not that I'm doubting any intentions here, but I think dressing this up as "extremely controversial" might be under-selling or burying the lede a bit. Had the practices (the ring, isolation, management structure) that occurred at Elan been done on adult prisoners, they would have with absolute moral certainty been seen as war crimes of the highest order. The fact that this happened to children and had the level of corruption and money behind it to persist for as long as it did should give one extreme pause, and the reprehensibility of the institution should not be "controversial," but rather condemned.
Indeed I would agree that this is really harrowing stuff. Just wanted to add that if you're going to look into this without any prior knowledge be sure that you're ready to be exposed to several levels of trauma.
While they are surely morally bankrupt and abhorrent, they aren't "war crimes of the highest order". Let's not dilute and devalue what war crimes are for internet punchiness when they are happening even today.
War crimes are when you break the rules of war. America mistreating its own population does not amount to war crimes.
Does it matter? These crimes were mostly committed with full knowledge and cooperation of government, even organised BY government. Everything was done to avoid real blame on any individual, when of course nearly all were perfectly aware what was happening, or wilfully closed their eyes, including the local police, police from the states the kids were from. Schools, CPS, therapists, ... from various states kids were from. Nobody will be punished, it doesn't matter how serious the crime is.
I'm pointing out that most kids were "coming from group homes" and therefore placed there by CPS. And this is not the worst CPS in the US has done to kids by a long shot, in fact they're still at it. Now with "ABA".
They rename the basic technique again and again, brainwashing with constant violence, inducing 24/7 stress, executed in practice by near-minimum-wage idiots rather than anyone with real training (or, frankly, intelligence), which then "necessitates" constant violence when children grow (you could, of course, also allow those kids a normal life, but no, they "have to be kids". So for instance the standard reaction in smarter autistic people, RAPIDLY becoming independent, has to be punished severely). But the basic premise of 24/7 stress with violence to make it inescapable has not changed.
Of course, the violence means that sometimes "accidentally" the kids get hurt, sometimes maimed or killed. That hasn't changed. Now when I say accidentally I mean they attacked these kids violently, and killed them, and they really meant to use that violence. They merely did not mean for that violence to end their lives. Of course, that's, at best, second degree murder. Nobody, of course, has gotten any serious punishment for such incidents, never mind people running or using ABA institutes.
Not that I'm doubting any intentions here, but I think dressing this up as "extremely controversial" might be under-selling or burying the lede a bit. Had the practices (the ring, isolation, management structure) that occurred at Elan been done on adult prisoners, they would have with absolute moral certainty been seen as war crimes of the highest order. The fact that this happened to children and had the level of corruption and money behind it to persist for as long as it did should give one extreme pause, and the reprehensibility of the institution should not be "controversial," but rather condemned.
Indeed I would agree that this is really harrowing stuff. Just wanted to add that if you're going to look into this without any prior knowledge be sure that you're ready to be exposed to several levels of trauma.