Why and How Do These Programs Exist in the United States? 
There are a number of reasonable arguments for why and how these programs exist in the United States. Based on our research, it is likely a continuation of the MKULTRA and MKSEARCH experiments now publicly privatized to avoid government scrutiny and liability. 
 
There are marked comparisons to be made between the torture of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib with the practices in place at behavior modification programs marketed to families and operating within the United States.  Children in private US programs have been subjected to thousands of hours of stress positions, restraint, repeated music, and forced to wear bags on their heads and stand with nooses around their necks for hours.  
 
These similarities support the notion that these programs are being used as research facilities to refine prisoner of war techniques used on our “enemies”. However, our innocent children are the guinea pigs in this situation and that violates every sacred value of freedom and human dignity. 
 
Beyond that, we have ample evidence of the connections between former C.I.A. Director George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and the Semblers among others. Straight Inc., employees and directors have gone on to work in and found new programs using the same torturous model of behavior modification. The new programs using variations of the inhumane brainwashing model implemented by Straight, Inc. include Pathway Family Center, Teen Challenge, and AARC in Canada. 
 
“The Franklin Cover Up”, written by former Nebraska Senator, John DeCamp, goes even further to expose ulterior motives for supporting this industry including keeping fairly secret facilities to wherehouse children for sexual exploitation by wealthy and powerful men and women.  
 
In addition, there are thousands of cults in the United States that use these methods simply as a way to scam families and individuals out of money. Since con-artistry does not require torturing children, we believe there are other motivations at work as suggested above. However, there are many adult scams like Amway, Landmark Forum, and Resource Realizations that are using behavior modification techniques and coercive manipulation to con people out of their money over long periods of time. And, this could arguably be nothing more than a large-scale scam on American families. 
 
In any event, whether it is large-scale experimentation regarding brainwashing and psychological torture or simply a lot of scam artists working to defraud families through deceptive marketing and abusive practices, it is not the answer for struggling families.