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The last major element of the Narconon therapeutic programme is a series of six courses. Each of these very closely follows an original Scientology version, as an examination of each reveals; the similarities will be discussed in more detail in the "Narconon and Scientology" section.
This course gives the individual
the ability to recognize and overcome the three main barriers to study
and learning. The individual also learns how to fully use a dictionary,
how to do demonstrations of concepts so he/she can easily understand them
and how to spot and handle any difficulties in his/her studies.
[Pamphlet issued by Narconon Chilocco, Oklahoma
c. 1992]
Based on the "Study Technology" originally devised by L. Ron Hubbard to train Scientologists. The course chiefly involves learning "how to fully use a dictionary", reflecting Hubbard's belief that people feel "bent, dizzy, sort of dead" if they do not fully understand every possible meaning of a word. In practice, this can involve writing out definitions for every word in a sentence, including "and", "it", "the", and so on. The course also involves "demonstrating concepts" using clay models, a technique which Scientology refers to as a "clay demo".
In this course the individual
does a series of exercises designed to fully extrovert his/her attention
and focus it on the environment. This greatly raises his/her perception
and the ability to handle the environment and control his/her life. The
individual also helps another person through the same exercises, which
increases his/her responsibility and ability to handle life and help others.
[Pamphlet issued by Narconon Chilocco,
Oklahoma c. 1992]
Essentially a "retread" of the earlier Therapeutic TRs Course. The same training routines are performed again.
This course gives the individual
the ability to spot and handle those influences in the environment that
could cause the individual to revert back to drug use. The individual
learns the characteristics of the social and anti-social personalities
so that he/she can spot the differences and better choose his/her friends
and associates.
[Pamphlet issued by Narconon Chilocco,
Oklahoma c. 1992]
Another course taken directly from Scientology (it even has the same title). This is essentially an indoctrination course in Scientology's world view that people can be defined as "social" or "antisocial" personalities, the "antisocial" ones comprising about 20% of the population and being responsible for war, crime, income tax, psychiatry, etc.
This course gives the individual
information that will improve survival potential; it teaches the individual
what is needed to survive. It also gives the individual knowledge about
personal ethics, honesty and integrity and shows him/her how to correct
counter-survival behavior.
[Pamphlet issued by Narconon Chilocco,
Oklahoma c. 1992]
Also taken directly from Scientology, with an unchanged title. Indoctrinates the recipient in "Scientology Ethics" (often referred to as just "Ethics"), the code of conduct to which Scientologists are expected to adhere.
This gives the individual the
exact step-by-step technology he/she needs to improve his/her life. This
technology covers how to apply exact steps to improve conditions in life.
It also teaches how to apply this technology to repair previous bad conditions
in one's life.
[Pamphlet issued by Narconon Chilocco,
Oklahoma c. 1992]
Again taken directly from Scientology, albeit with a slightly different title (there, it is referred to as the "How to Improve Conditions in Life Course".
This course teaches the individual
a moral code, which is a guide to living a happier life based on the book
"The Way to Happiness," written by L. Ron Hubbard.
[Pamphlet issued by Narconon Chilocco,
Oklahoma c. 1992]
The Way to Happiness is a fairly short book written in 1981 by Hubbard to "revert [sic] the decline in basic moral values, social decay and further disintegration of integrity and human decency". (There is an official Way to Happiness website at http://www.twth.org and the booklet itself can be downloaded in Acrobat format at http://www.twth.org/TWTH-English.pdf - you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it.)
It is a fairly harmless work, often anodyne to the point of being obvious: "The way to happiness does not include murdering your friends, your family, or yourself being murdered." Having said that, there are some oddities about some of Hubbard's precepts: he advises "Do not tell harmful lies" (so beneficial lies are acceptable?). The Church of Scientology has put a huge amount of effort into disseminating it - over 57 million copies are said to have been produced - but its reasons may not be entirely altruistic. Although The Way to Happiness is promoted as "a non-religious work", internal Scientology documents explicitly state that the book is "the largest dissemination project in Scientology history" and "the bridge between broad society and Scientology." ["Church Seeks Influence in Schools, Business, Science", Los Angeles Times, Wednesday, 27 June 1990] The body distributing the booklet, The Way To Happiness Foundation, is a sister organisation of Narconon - it is one of the four "social reform" groups (Narconon being another) that come under the supervision of the Association for Better Living and Education and ultimately the Church of Scientology, although it is separately incorporated. (See "Narconon and the Scientology Management Structure" for more details of this relationship.)