Torture and terror post-9/11: The role of social work in responding to torture:
TL;DR: The authors argue that social work response to challenging pro-torture rhetoric has been limited at best, and to effectively address the problem there must be an international response if social work is to adhere to its obligations under the IFSW Code of Ethics, and fulfil its role as a human rights profession.
Abstract: Whilst terrorism is not a new global phenomenon, the fallout from the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US remain extensive and far reaching, including the sanctioning of harsher security measures and the denigration of human rights and civil liberties. Of particular concern is the move towards torture being an accepted practice for those deemed ‘terror suspects’ or captured ‘enemy’ combatants in countries where the so called ‘war on terror’ is still being played out. This article argues that the social work response, particularly in relation to challenging pro-torture rhetoric, has been limited at best, and to effectively address the problem there must be an international response if social work is to adhere to its obligations under the IFSW Code of Ethics, and fulfil its role as a human rights profession.
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TL;DR: In this book, Johnson primarily addresses a research audience, and his model seems designed to stimulate thought rather than to improve clinical technique, which suggests that lithium should have no therapeutic value in patients, such as those with endogenous depression, who already "under-process" cognitive information.
Abstract: basic research and clinical data in an attempt to derive a cohesive model which explains the behavioral effects of the drug. Johnson is an experimental psychologist, and his work underlies many of the chapters which suggest that lithium decreases the behavioral response to novel external stimuli. He then utilizes this foundation to propose a cognitive model for lithium's anti-manic action, its inhibition of violent impulsivity, and its prophylactic effects in recurrent depression. Previous formulations which were clinically based, such as that of Mabel Blake Cohen and her associates, stressed the primacy of depression and noted the \"manic defense\" as an attempt to ward off intolerable depression. In direct contrast, Johnson views mania as the primary disturbance in bipolar disorder. He considers depression in bipolar disease as an over-zealous homeostatic inhibitory responsf to a maniaassociated cognitive overload. Consistent with this, he believes, lit lum exerts its anti-manic effect by decreasing cognitive processing in a manner analogous to his animal studies. Johnson also suggests that lithium exerts its prophylactic effect in recurrent depressions by treating subclinical mania. These concepts are supported by the work of Johnson's associate, Kukopulos, to whom the book is dedicated. The bulk of the research which describes the cognitive disturbance in mania is complex, however, and uncomfortably open to multiple interpretations. Recognized as a preliminary effort, Johnson's formulation may help to guide further research. Although Johnson clearly traces lithium actions through a broad range of subjects, his discussion of the neurophysiological aspects of this drug is notably spotty. In particular, Johnson ignores the work of Svensson, DeMontigny, Aghajanian, and others who suggest that serotonergic systems may play an important role in the antidepressant actions of lithium. As a result, he fails to discuss one of the most important current uses of lithium: as an agent used in conjunction with antidepressant medications to increase treatment response in medication-resistant forms of depression. Lithium augmentation of antidepressant medication also challenges the formulation presented by Johnson. This formulation suggests that lithium should have no therapeutic value in patients, such as those with endogenous depression, who already \"under-process\" cognitive information. The omission of lithium augmentation in depression is clearly unfortunate in this text. Overall, this volume demonstrates the benefits of a single-authored text. It it clearly organized and readable. The bibliography is also broad and useful. In this book, Johnson primarily addresses a research audience, and his model seems designed to stimulate thought rather than to improve clinical technique. In this capacity, his book will be of most interest to behavioral psychologists. Other books, focusing purely on clinical data, may be more useful to clinicians. Nevertheless, the clear organization, the large bibliography, and the thoughtful presentation may make this text a useful addition to a clinical library as well.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors read how social work describes itself in its professional literature, educational textbooks, and even internal correspondence (from professional organizations, accrediting bodies, and "progressi...
Abstract: Reading how social work describes itself in its professional literature, educational textbooks, and even internal correspondence (from professional organizations, accrediting bodies, and “progressi...
4 citations
"Torture and terror post-9/11: The r..." refers background in this paper
...Others point to the push for professionalism by national social work bodies, and that some social workers are captivated by the status that this notion of professionalism affords (Wagner, 2009)....
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...In addition, researchers have noted that some social workers are afraid to ‘make waves’ for fear that they will lose their jobs because they have taken a stand on political or controversial issues (Briskman, 2008; Wagner, 2009)....
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TL;DR: In this article, the mirroring of the imagery in the Wachowski brothers' Matrix Trilogy with contemporary political rhetoric in the West on the War on Iraq and on the Iraq invasion is discussed.
Abstract: Something is always lost to the sovereign, democratic, liberal or otherwise. This is the very function of law, but in contemporary times of (anti) terror, when obedience demands obeisance and protection from terror includes torture, it is becoming increasingly difficult in the United States, Australia and Britain to imagine a `fair and free contract' with the sovereign. What is to be done? Purchasing freedom as cars, perfume and fries performs one evasion of the violence of the sovereign decision. The collapse of signification into the product is an effective gesture to enable a liberal democratic subject to imagine it is obtaining or ingesting freedom in the cloth or, as a food group. Similarly, offering freedom as a gift to the Middle East enacts a denial or even foreclosure that speaks of freedom as if it can be administered militarily. This article discusses the mirroring of the imagery in the Wachowski brothers' Matrix Trilogy with contemporary political rhetoric in the West on the War on Iraq and on...
4 citations
"Torture and terror post-9/11: The r..." refers background in this paper
...These impacts include: the erosion of human rights (Rogers, 2007), the deformation of ethics and moral values (Gordon, 2009), the recreation of a national identity embedded in violence (Milam, 2004), the redefinition of social norms that then include institutional or organizational behaviours that contravene human rights standards (Wright-Smith, 2007), the social exclusion or ‘outcasting’ of certain groups of people, particularly Muslim men (Lazar and Lazar, 2004) or a community that lacks empathy or is openly hostile to the survivor (Culhane, 2009; PhiladelphoffPuren, 2007)....
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...These impacts include: the erosion of human rights (Rogers, 2007), the deformation of ethics and moral values (Gordon, 2009), the recreation of a national identity embedded in violence (Milam, 2004), the redefinition of social norms that then include institutional or organizational behaviours that…...
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3 citations
"Torture and terror post-9/11: The r..." refers background in this paper
...Essential to this is the recognition that individual needs are influenced by social and political factors (Ferguson and Woodward, 2009; Fook, 2010; Mullaly, 2002; Thompson, 2009)....
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...This increased workload in-turn leaves social workers with less time to devote to structural or international issues (Thompson, 2009)....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the way in which particular genres (such as public speeches or television interviews) are able to confer or withdraw legitimacy from the one who tries to speak of torture, and show that the conventions of the interview effectively repeat rather than simply report the conditions of violence to which Habib bore witness, and frame him as a guilty man in advance of his testimony.
Abstract: This article investigates the published torture allegations of Mamdouh Habib, an Australian citizen detained as a terror suspect in Guantanamo Bay for more than three years before his release without charge in January ZOo5. It considers the way in which particular genres (such as public speeches or television interviews) are able to confer or withdraw legitimacy from the one who tries to speak of torture. In particular, this article shows that the conventions of the interview (such as the modality of the question) effectively repeat rather than simply report the conditions of violence to which Habib bore witness, and frame him as a guilty man in advance of his testimony. Moreover, this genre deprives Habib of the power to testify in his own idiom, relegating him to the domain of the Differend (Jean-Francois Lyotard, 1988) In addition, the political and popular response to Habib’s testimony has focused principally on discrediting his claims. Despite these exceptional rhetorical challenges, this art...
3 citations
TL;DR: As coordinators of a civilian network serving active-duty GIs, they comment on the Supplement about military suicide.
Abstract: As coordinators of a civilian network serving active-duty GIs,1,2 we comment on the Supplement about military suicide.3
2 citations
"Torture and terror post-9/11: The r..." refers background in this paper
...Startling trends demonstrate that in the US, 18 war veterans die from suicide daily, which is a greater number than those who die in combat (Waitzkin et al., 2012)....
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