Topic
Torture
About: Torture is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 8173 publications have been published within this topic receiving 109895 citations.
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TL;DR: Anthropologists' selections of topics and field sites have often been shaped by militarism, but they have been slow to make militarism especially American militarism an object of study as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Anthropologists’ selections of topics and field sites have often been shaped by militarism, but they have been slow to make militarism, especially American militarism, an object of study. In the high Cold War years concerns about human survival were refracted into debates about innate human proclivities for violence or peace. As “new wars” with high civilian casualty rates emerged in Africa, Central America, the former Eastern bloc, and South Asia, beginning in the 1980s anthropologists increasingly wrote about terror, torture, death squads, ethnic cleansing, guerilla movements, and the memory work inherent in making war and peace. Anthropologists have also begun to write about nuclear weapons and American militarism. The “war on terror” has disturbed settled norms that anthropologists should not assist counterinsurgency campaigns, and for the first time since Vietnam, anthropologists are debating the merits of military anthropology versus critical ethnography of the military.
134 citations
TL;DR: It is shown that participants do fail to spontaneously think about the contents of these targets' minds when imagining a day in their life, and rate them differently on a number of human-perception dimensions, which hints at some of the complex psychological mechanisms potentially involved in atrocities against humanity.
Abstract: Dehumanized perception, a failure to spontaneously consider the mind of another person, may be a psychological mechanism facilitating inhumane acts like torture. Social cognition - considering someone's mind - recognizes the other as a human being subject to moral treatment. Social neuroscience has reliably shown that participants normally activate a social-cognition neural network to pictures and thoughts of other people; our previous work shows that parts of this network uniquely fail to engage for traditionally dehumanized targets (homeless persons or drug addicts; see Harris & Fiske, 2009, for review). This suggests participants may not consider these dehumanized groups' minds. Study 1 demonstrates that participants do fail to spontaneously think about the contents of these targets' minds when imagining a day in their life, and rate them differently on a number of human-perception dimensions. Study 2 shows that these human-perception dimension ratings correlate with activation in brain regions beyond the social-cognition network, including areas implicated in disgust, attention, and cognitive control. These results suggest that disengaging social cognition affects a number of other brain processes and hints at some of the complex psychological mechanisms potentially involved in atrocities against humanity.
134 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that forced psychiatric interventions violate the universal prohibition of torture, and argue for the criminalization of the perpetrators and reparations for the victims and survivors.
Abstract: It is the contention of this paper that forced psychiatric interventions violate the universal prohibition of torture The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) lays the basis for this argument to be developed in a series of steps, starting from its recognition of equal legal capacity and free and informed consent of persons with disabilities, and equal right to respect for physical and mental integrity, as well as the freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment These obligations, contained in Articles 12, 25, 17, and 15 respectively, will require immediate cessation of forced psychiatric interventions But there is a need to go further, and examine the serious nature and consequences of forced psychiatric interventions as a violent assault, in most cases sanctioned if not perpetrated by the state, affecting every aspect of a person’s life: the body, the mind, the personality, the social relationships, and the spiritual values or higher meaning Based on an examination of these factors, and the internationally accepted definitions of torture, I will argue for recognition of forced psychiatric interventions as a grave violation of human rights, necessitating criminalization of perpetrators and reparations for victims and survivors
133 citations
TL;DR: These findings point to three types of stressors related to different aspects of psychopathology in survivors of torture: perceived severity of torture, secondary effects of captivity experience on various life areas, and general psychosocial stressors following captivity.
Abstract: Objective. —To examine factors related to long-term psychological functioning in political ex-prisoners who had been subjected to systematic torture. Design. —The psychological status of 55 tortured political activists, 55 nontortured political activists, and 55 subjects with no history of torture or political activism was assessed using Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III for psychiatric assessment, Semi-structured Interview for Survivors of Torture, and other self-rated and assessor-rated measures of anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Correlational and multiple regression analyses were used to assess the independent effects of precaptivity, captivity, and postcaptivity variables as predictors of long-term psychological status among the torture survivors. Setting. —Istanbul, Turkey. Main Outcome Measures. —Number of lifetime and current PTSD symptoms, and scores on the Beck Depression Inventory, Hamilton Depression Rating, Hamilton Anxiety Scale, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Results. —Effect of captivity experience on various life areas (eg, family and social, economic, and employment status) and other postcaptivity psychosocial stressors were associated with PTSD symptoms, anxiety, and depression. Perceived severity of torture was related to PTSD symptoms but not to anxiety or depression. Lack of social support predicted anxiety and depression but not PTSD. Family history of psychiatric illness correlated with higher scores on most measures. Impact of captivity experience on family was the strongest predictor of PTSD symptoms. Conclusions. —These findings point to three types of stressors related to different aspects of psychopathology in survivors of torture: perceived severity of torture, secondary effects of captivity experience on various life areas, and general psychosocial stressors following captivity. Different interventions may be needed for three components of survivors' traumatic experience: cognitive and behavioral strategies for treatment of PTSD symptoms, marital or family strategies for minimizing the impact of the trauma on the family, and strategies for enhancing social support to minimize postcaptivity depression and anxiety. ( JAMA . 1994;272:357-363)
133 citations
TL;DR: The circumstances in which sexual torture occurs, its causes and consequences, and the development of international law addressing it are described, based on data from a study in 2000 in Croatia.
133 citations