Mankind Project

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This article discusses the non-profit organization. For the children's publishing company MKP, see Miles Kelly Publishing.
Mankind Project
Founder(s) Rich Tosi[1]
Bill Kauth[2]
Ron Hering
Type 501(c)(3)
Founded 1984, Wisconsin, United States[3]
Headquarters Illinois, United States[4]
Key people George Daranyi[5]
Martin Marks[5]
Carl Griesser[5]
Ken Fearnley[5]
Les Sinclair[5][6]
Allan Podbelsek[5]
Don Yellovich[5]
Steven Judith[5]
Drury Heffernan[5]
Joe Illig[6]
Bert Dinkins[6]
Joe Laur (1992-1996)[7]
Don Jones[8]
Area served Global
Focus Men's movement
Revenue $1,938,132 for 2006[9]
Volunteers >1000
Employees 5
Members 50
Owner George Daranyi
Slogan Changing the world, one man at a time.
Website http://www.mkp.org/

ManKind Project (MKP), previously known as[4] the IRDX Corp (1991), Inner Resource Development Corporation (1992), and New Warrior Network, Inc (1998) is a nonprofit organization for men which conducts retreats, the best-known of which is the New Warrior Training Adventure (NWTA). The organization states that it promotes: "accountability and integrity; connection to feelings; leadership; fatherhood; and the blessing of elders."[10]

The MKP organization is composed of 38 interdependent centers in nine countries, each with its own elected leadership.[11] Each center conducts training courses dealing with life issues for men, as part of the mythopoetic men's movement. The group claims that over 40,000 men have have participated in the group's primary training, the New Warrior Training Adventure.

In 2007, MKP was named in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of Michael Scinto, a man who committed suicide after participating in the New Warrior Training Adventure.

Contents

[edit] Origins

In 1984, three men formed a group called The New Warrior Training, which would later become the Mankind Project. These three men were Rich Tosi, a former Marine Corps officer; Bill Kauth, a therapist and member of the "mythopoetic" men's movement; and Ron Hering, also a therapist.[citation needed]

[edit] New Warrior Training Adventure

Designed to compress a large amount of material into less than forty-eight hours, the New Warrior Training Adventure (NWTA) purports to be a "radical departure" from the modern male psyche, internally navigating through a "hero's journey". The leadership claims that those who undertake this journey pass through three phases characteristic to virtually all historic forms of male initiation: descent, ordeal and return.

The average cost of the weekend course is $650.[12] The course usually takes place in a wooded area, over a 48-hour period, with a one-to-one ratio of staff to participants.[13] The weekend is intended as a "male initiation ritual". The participants' mobile phones and radios are taken away for the duration of the retreat. This was explained as way of removing the "noise of a man's life" and separating the man "from what he is comfortable with."[13] When an interviewer asked "is sleep deprivation a big part of New Warrior weekend training?", the respondent invoked MKP's confidentiality agreement, but acknowledged that he usually sleeps more at home than during the training.

Participants are forbidden from disclosing any of the specifics pertaining to the training weekend to non-participants: all participants at an NWTA are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement. The group leadership purports that keeping the details confidential helps to create an experience "uncluttered by expectation", and to protect the privacy of participants.[12] Some trainings have reportedly included as many as 200 men.[14] Trainings usually involve a maximum of 32 or 40 initiates, and some 40 to 50 staff.

[edit] Integration Groups (I-Groups)

MKP co-founder Bill Kauth's 1992 book A Circle of Men: The Original Manual for Men's Support Groups details how groups of men can assemble to help one another emotionally and psychologically.[15] Men who have completed the NWTA are encouraged to consider joining such a group. An optional "Integration Group" training is offered shortly after each NWTA for $100-$150, with scholarships available.[12] The "I-Group" is for participants to engage in ongoing personal work and to apply the principles learned on the NWTA to their lives. I-Groups are available to all men who complete the NWTA, and sometimes to men who want to explore the Mankind Project. Many I-Groups meet one evening per week. A typical I-Group meeting includes conversation and sharing in a series of "rounds" that allow each man to be heard.[16]

[edit] Other trainings

MKP is affiliated with several similar trainings. Some of these trainings were developed or are staffed by key members of MKP. They are:

[edit] Wrongful death lawsuit regarding Michael Scinto

A 2007 wrongful death lawsuit filed by Kathy and Ralph Scinto charges that MKP is responsible for the death of their son, Michael Scinto. Scinto attended a New Warrior Training Adventure in July of 2005. Fifteen days later, his father and sister found him dead in his apartment, he had committed suicide with a shotgun. The lawsuit refers to a letter which Michael Scinto wrote after his return from the retreat, addressed to the Madison County sheriff's department. Scinto wrote that the retreat leaders had "provoked the men into a rage", that they refused to let him leave, and that they had threatened to hunt and kill him if he tried to escape.[18]

[edit] Criticism

[edit] Rick Ross

Mankind Project has been identified by anti-cult advocate Rick Ross of the Rick A. Ross Institute, with an entry in his public database of "destructive cults and controversial groups and movements".[19] Ross' Cult Education Forum contains an ongoing, 84-page discussion of the MKP, dating from 2005-2008.[20]

[edit] Ex-members

Two Yahoo! Groups have been formed by men who participated in the MKP's activities and found them to have a negative impact upon them. One, titled Ex-MKP was founded in 2004 by and for those who "had problems" with the group.[21] Ex-MKP's information page refers to Mankind Project as "cult" which uses "mind control", and compares the group's methods to those used in prisoner of war camps. Ex-MKP has over 300 members, and is active as of April, 2008. The other, titled MankindProjectAbused was founded in 2007 for former MKP participants in the United Kingdom. It is active as of March, 2008.[22] The group's information page describes MKP's activities in detail, referring to various "shaming and mind manipulating techniques".

[edit] References

  1. ^ About the Presenters. www.tosi.biz. Tosi and Associates. Retrieved on 2008-04-25. “In 1985, Rich co-founded the ManKind Project...”
  2. ^ a b c Baer, Reid (May 2006). May interview with Bill Kauth. A Man Overboard. MenStuff: The National Men's Resource. Retrieved on 2008-04-25. “Bill Kauth is a co-founder of the New Warrior Training Adventure of the ManKind Project...”
  3. ^ "Self-help for women? It's a scream", The Times, United Kingdom: News International, owned by News Corporation, 2006-01-28. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  4. ^ a b Illinois Secretary of State; search for "Mankind Project"
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mankind Project. JustGive.org. GuideStar. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
  6. ^ a b c Contact Us. www.mkp.org. Mankind Project. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
  7. ^ About Us. www.seedsys.com. SEED Systems. Retrieved on 2008-04-24. “Mr. Laur was the Executive Director of the Inner Resource Development Corporation from 1992-1996, expanding the organization into Canada and Europe, doubling the number of training facilities and tripling revenues during his tenure.”
  8. ^ Moore, Robert L. (2001). The Archetype of Initiation: Sacred Space, Ritual Process, and Personal Transformation. Xlibris. ISBN 188860221X. 
  9. ^ Mankind Project Group Return. JustGive.org. GuideStar. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
  10. ^ Our Values. www.mkp.org. Mankind Project. Retrieved on 2008-04-24..
  11. ^ a b c d ManKind Project Overview. www.mkp.org. Mankind Project. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
  12. ^ a b c Frequently Asked Questions about the New Warrior Training Adventure. www.mkp.org. Mankind Project. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
  13. ^ a b Barry, Chris. "Male transformer: Mankind Project uses mysterious rituals to help heal wounded men", Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Montreal Mirror, 2003-10-23. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  14. ^ Greenhill, Jim. "New 'warriors' bare their souls", The Durango Herald, Durango, Colorado: Durango Herald Inc., 2005-08-21. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  15. ^ Kauth, Bill [1992]. A Circle of Men: The Original Manual for Men's Support Groups. New York: St. Martin’s Press. ISBN 0312072473. OCLC 24871074. 
  16. ^ Jackman, Michael. "Band of brothers: The men's movement (still) want guys to open their hearts", Metro Times, Scranton, Pennsylvania: Times-Shamrock Communications, 2006-11-29. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  17. ^ Missions of Service. www.mkp.org. Mankind Project. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
  18. ^ Vogel, Chris. "Naked Men: The ManKind Project and Michael Scinto. The organization was supposed to make him a better man. Instead, his parents say, it made him a dead one.", Houston Press, Village Voice Media, 2007-10-04. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  19. ^ Mankind Project: New Warrior Training Adventure. www.rickross.com. The Rick A. Ross Institute. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
  20. ^ Mankind project. www.rickross.com. The Rick A. Ross Institute's Cult Education Forum. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
  21. ^ Ex-MKP. Yahoo! Groups. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
  22. ^ Mankind Project Abused. Yahoo! Groups. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.

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