REVIEW: ‘Troubled: The Failed Promise of America’s Behavioral Treatment Programs’ by Kenneth R. Rosen
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Kenneth R. Rosen’s new book, Troubled: The Failed Promise of America’s Behavioral Treatment Programs, is a personal account of how “troubled” teenagers fare when taken from their everyday lives and placed in wilderness programs and treatment facilities, sometimes located in the middle of the woods or the desert. Throughout the nonfiction narrative, Rosen focuses on a small selection of characters, all of whom open up about their experiences before, during and after these programs.
These individuals were facing burdensome challenges at home — whether from drug addiction, family support systems that were lacking or violent encounters in school — and Rosen attempts to make the case that their entry into these behavior-changing programs didn’t help remedy their problems.
The author knows what he’s writing about: He is also a survivor of these types of programs and is quite open with the readers on his own personal journey. And this personal connection is apparent throughout these stories because he empathizes with Hazel, Avery, Mike and Mark. An opening note from Rosen states that these four characters were chosen out of more than 100 interviews he conducted with former clients, child psychologists, counselors and staff. Only first names are given, and several names were changed as well.
Troubled seems most interested in giving the reading public a chance to understand what it must be like to be taken from one’s home and sent to these programs and facilities, sometimes under the cover of night and with the teenager not knowing what is happening. Each of the chapters provides a moment-by-moment retelling of the traumatic experiences that led to families making this difficult choice and what happened to the teenagers once they entered the wilderness or enrolled in the facility.
Rosen, to his credit, follows his characters pre-program, during the program and post-program, re-creating the details thanks to extensive interviews he conducted after the fact. He relies upon their memories of the programs and other publicly available documents about the treatment facilities. As a journalist, he gives a great deal of ink to understanding the complicating factors of each case, and some of the details are shocking — and almost all of them are saddening. He lays the facts out, does not shy away from the difficult situations and details, and gives voice to these teenagers (who are now grown up).
Rosen offers resources at the end of the book for parents, caregivers and teenagers who are facing similar circumstances, but he doesn’t give many pages to alternate programs and therapies that may help turn this “failed promise” into a success story. This book is about diagnosing the problem, giving space to the survivors, and plotting the coming of age of these four people as they faced troubling presents and uncertain futures.
Troubled is a powerful book for anyone personally connected to these programs and circumstances, and for others, it’s a chance to better understand these harrowing narratives and how society has responded.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Troubled: The Failed Promise of America’s Behavioral Treatment Programs by Kenneth R. Rosen. 254 pages. Little A. Click here for more information.
