An experiment in reforming drug addicts, which has been tried successfully at a few celebrated institutions like Synanon in California and Daytop Village in New York, has come to the Skinker-DeBaliviere area.
Archway House, 5650 Pershing Avenue, in the old Bristol Hotel, has been in operation since November. It is under the direction of Jack Caracciola and Fred Viola, with a staff of four.
Probably the most striking feature of the center, to a visitor who is familiar with modern trends in education and childrearing, is its frankly authoritarian and paternalistic character. (Caracciola does not shy away from the word “rigid”.)
Inmates of the house, who are forbidden all drugs and alcohol (they must even get permission to take aspirin), live under a strict regime which requires that they observe numerous house rules, do their share of work, and unquestioningly accept punishments for infractions. The first shock on entering is the sight of young men with home-made signs around their necks proclaiming “I shot off my mouth again” or “Will I ever learn to take order?”
Yet some of those who wear the signs for punishment are able to talk calmly and without self-consciousness about their place in the house and about their drug problems. Caracciola and the other staff members quickly acknowledge being exaddicts, and those under their direction do the same.
A young St. Louis black and a young white from Cincinatti, both seemingly educated, talk matter-of-factly and without embarassment about their previous addiction, their hopes for the future, and their total dependence on the Archway community.
“If you walk out of here, you’re going to prison or the grave,”says the young man from Cincinatti, who drove all night to St. Louis when he heard Archway had an opening. Those who want to leave before the staff thinks they are ready are made to face the whole Archway “family” which puts strong pressure on them to stay.
“You are an ex-dope fiend when you walk in the door,” the St. Louisian says. “After awhile here you discover your own hangups aren’t so bad. Everybody is a potential dope addict, and you begin to learn how to cope with your own problems.”
An Archway “diploma,” testifying to the addict’s cure, is said to be highly important in looking for a job, and some of those in the house are studying for high school equivalency tests or for various trades.
Caracciola operates on the theory that drug addicts are emotional cripples who use drugs as a shield. His method stresses strong guilt feelings, a recognition of basic personality problems, and a family atmosphere , which offers the addict security and support.
For four to six months a new inmate lives and works in the house. Gradually he may venture out to work or attend school, while still living at Archway. Finally he graduates, but he is still encouraged to visit the center regularly.
Encounter groups, in which inmates talk frankly about their problems and voice their feelings about each other, are a basic feature of the therapy. This approach, pioneered at Synanon, hopes to identify the underlying tensions and fears which have led the addict to drugs and help him to begin facing his problems.
Although reliable figures are not yet available for Archway, Caracciola estimates that 34-40 per cent of the inmates never again take drugs after leaving. In contrast the U.S. Public Health Service hospitals have a repeat rate of well over 90 per cent. Caracciola believes this is because they treat addiction alone and not its psychological causes and fail to provide the supportive atmosphere of a house like Archway.
Caracciola was formerly on the staff of Gateway House in Chicago and was invited to St. Louis by Dr. Raymond Knowles of the University of Missouri’s Institute of Psychiatry. Archway is now funded by the state, but Caracciola is also seeking private donations for expansion purposes. He says the state regards the house as an experimental program in methods of treatment, while he is principally concerned with curing addicts.
There are presently 65 persons at the house, with a waiting list of over 200. Caracciola says he is besieged with requests from respectable families, to admit teenagers who have become addicts. Lack of funds forces him to turn many away.
The present “family” is racially integrated and includes college graduates (even one medical doctor) and high school dropouts from the inner city. Close to half are not hard core heroin addicts but rather were on barbituates or amphetamines before coming. Many drug cure centers give addicts a heroin substitute called methadon, but Caracciola insists on a totally drug-free environment. Violence and threats of violence are also forbidden in the house.
Caracciola believes marijuana should be legalized, partly because its present illegal status helps unscrupulous dealers who try to win teenagers over to more powerful drugs. He is highly wary of LSD, however, because too little is known about its long-term affects on people.
Archway holds open house every Saturday night, and visitors are welcomed at that time.
Originally published in The Paper, August 1970.
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Original source: SD_Times1970_08.pdf, printed page(s) 6.
