The troubled teen industry also known as TTI is a broad range of youth residential programs aimed at struggling teenagers. The term encompasses various facilities and programs, including youth residential treatment centers , wilderness programs , boot camps , and therapeutic boarding schools. These programs claim to rehabilitate and teach troubled teenagers through various practices.
Troubled teen facilities are privately run, and the troubled teen industry constitutes a multi-billion dollar industry. Young people may be labeled as "troubled teens", delinquents, or other language on their websites and other advertising materials.
Sometimes, these therapies are used as a punishment for contravening family expectations. The troubled teen industry has encountered many scandals due to child abuse , institutional corruption , and deaths, and is highly controversial.
The troubled teen industry has a precursor in the drug rehabilitation program called Synanon , founded in by Charles Dederich. Synanon rejected the use of medication for drug rehabilitation, and instead relied on the "Synanon Game", group sessions of attack therapy where members were encouraged to criticize and humiliate each other. Synanon's techniques were highly influential and inspired human potential self-help organizations such as Erhard Seminars Training est and Lifespring.
Synanon-style therapy was also used in Straight, Incorporated and The Seed , two drug rehabilitation programs for youth. CEDU owned several for-profit therapeutic boarding schools, group homes, and behavior modification programs. The techniques used by CEDU schools were derived from Synanon's; for example, long, confrontational large-group sessions called "Propheets" took cues from the Synanon Game. Troubled teen programs have been criticized for failing to offer evidence-based therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy or trauma- and violence-informed care.
