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Reveal Presents American Rehab
A call from a woman who says her brother was made to work for free while getting addiction treatment turned into a years-long exposé of the prison-to-rehab pipeline. People who are court-ordered into rehab often end up in facilities that require them to do labor without pay; they form a shadow workforce of at least 60,000. American Rehab traces this practice back to Synanon: one of the country’s earliest rehab centers, founded in 1958. Synanon eventually turned into a commune, then a cult, then disbanded. But one researcher estimated that in the 1970s, about 500 rehabs sprung up out of the Synanon model; Cenikor is one of many accused of using forced labor. Reveal spoke to hundreds of people to determine how many of these centers still exist today, and if work-based rehabs are even legal. American Rehab is comprehensive beyond what the first episode might let on, implicating companies such as the Salvation Army, Walmart, and Williams Sonoma. It concludes with a very American message: Of course some rehabs in this country make the argument that hard work can cure anything.
Storyline
A call from a woman who says her brother was made to work for free while getting addiction treatment turned into a years-long exposé of the prison-to-rehab pipeline. People who are court-ordered into rehab often end up in facilities that require them to do labor without pay; they form a shadow workforce of at least 60,000. American Rehab traces this practice back to Synanon: one of the country’s earliest rehab centers, founded in 1958. Synanon eventually turned into a commune, then a cult, then disbanded. But one researcher estimated that in the 1970s, about 500 rehabs sprung up out of the Synanon model; Cenikor is one of many accused of using forced labor. Reveal spoke to hundreds of people to determine how many of these centers still exist today, and if work-based rehabs are even legal. American Rehab is comprehensive beyond what the first episode might let on, implicating companies such as the Salvation Army, Walmart, and Williams Sonoma. It concludes with a very American message: Of course some rehabs in this country make the argument that hard work can cure anything.
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