Vol. 5, No. 4 - Psychiatric Survivor Archives of Toronto

Punitive
System
The daily regime at Riviere-des­
Prairies seems designed to induce
personal deterioration and problems.
The inmates waste their lives in
boredom; they spend their days
doing nothing, learning nothing.
Every afternoon they are given a
siesta.
The frustration, boredom and despair
cause behaviour problems for
which people are punished. Punishment
is a major industry at the Institution.
The Hospital's six isolation cells
are used excessively. Individuals
spend hours and days locked in
them. When the cells are fullpeople
are locked in their rooms.
'Restraints' are also a regular part
of the Hospital routine. People are
tied to chairs, to beds, to toilet bowls.
People run away from Rivieredes-Prairies.
When they are caught
and returned they do equal time in
the isolation cells. Two days away
means two days in the cell.
14 Phoenix Rising
One of the 'therapeutic techniques'
favoured by the Institution is
the use of 'aversive' measures. Since
December 1984 staff-psychologist
Francois Dumesnel has been conducting
a project using aversive techniques
on the 36 children and young
adults in Unit 10. His methods include
tying people to chairs for
hours, putting hoods over their
heads and locking them in isolation
cells.
When interviewed by a CBC reporter
Dumesnel at first denied using
hoods. When it was pointed out to
him that the June 1985 edition of
Riviere-des-Prairies officialpublication
refers to the use of hoods at
the Institution, he admitted to having
used them, but said it was only once
or twice.
The Hospital's publication says: "It
is difficultfor the lay visitor to see a
child with a hood over his head or
tied down in a chair not to think right
away that the person isbeing badly
treated." The clear implication of this
statement is that hoods are used
regularly at Riviere-des-Prairies and
can be observed by visitors.
People who work at the Institution
have also contradicted Dumesnel's
claims. They say that hoods have
been used regularly in Unit 10.
Dumesnel describes his subjects as
"psychotics" and claims they don't
feel things the way other people do.
What would be deprivation and pun-
Educational programs needed
The people livingat Riviere-des­
Prairies do not need to be cured.
What they need is education and
development - a chance to learn
and grow so as to become as independent
and fulfilled as possible
and to live in the community with
support services.
The Hospital operates on the
medical model. The residents are
made "patients" and have "health
care plans" run by nurses, ~octors
and psychiatrists. They are given
large quantities of strong drugs and
tranquillizers. Parents note that, far
from developing skillsin the Institution,
their sons and daughters regress
and lose abilitiesthey
previously had.
ishment to a 'normal' human being
isn't for psychotics, because, according
to Dumesnel, they are not
like us. With reference to putting a
person in an isolation cell for extended
periods he says: "You must understand,
it doesn't bother a psychotic.
It isn't punishment. A psychotic
doesn't understand what punishment
is."
The theory behind Dumesnel's
'treatment' is apparently to force
people to regress through sensory
deprivation. He uses "regressive
techniques" supposedly to make a
person go behind the "mask of
deficiency" to the fetal or infant
stage.
These techniques were developed
in the 30's and for a time were in
widespread use in parts of the United
States. Abuse of the techniques led
to the introduction of strict codes of
ethics and external supervision.
David Solberg, lawyer for the Ontario
Patient Advocate Office describes
regressive techniques as "a
piece of monstrous nonsense" which
has been totally discredited. He says
he would be flabbergasted if any professional
organization in Canada
approved such a punitive approach
to 'therapy' .
Under Canadian law it is a civil
and criminal assault to impose '
treatment on persons without their
consent or proper substituted
informed consent.