Psychological Sequelae of Torture

Abstract

Torture is one of the most important preventable causes of psychological morbidity. Amnesty International (1987) has reported the use of “brutal torture and ill-treatment” in over 90 countries in the 1980s. In some countries torture has been applied on such a widespread scale and in such an arbitrary manner that whole populations are affected. In Kampuchea under the Pol Pot regime, for example, genocide and torture took place on a massive scale; indeed, merely wearing spectacles became for many a capital offence (Amnesty International, 1983). Similar reports abound from many other countries and regions.

Trauma and coping in Somali and Oromo refugee youth

“…Trauma survivors are prone to long-term psychological and psychosocial difficulties such as anxiety, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, sleep disturbances, and other problems that negatively affect coping and quality of life [5][6][7][8]. These problems are of concern as they may interfere with adjustment years after immigration [9,10].…”

Practicing penal harm medicine in the United States: Prisoners' voices from jail

“…Most agree that the purpose of torture is the infliction of physical pain, psychological degradation, and dehumanizing humiliation of prisoners (Punamaki 1988;Turner and Gorst-Unsworth 1990), but the "distinction between [ill-treatment and torture] is a matter of degree: torture and other forms of ill-treatment represent different points along a continuum" (Morgan and Evans 1994:143). According to this conceptualization, the word torture is not used exclusively (Asad 1996); the term ill-treatment is preferred because it encompasses the full range of activities associated with deplorable correctional practices (Morgan and Evans 1994:146;Sheleff 1987:312).…”

“…Some observers argue that the word torture should be reserved for extreme government-sanctioned actions in the context of organized violence (Turner and Gorst-Unsworth 1990;Van Willigen 1992), including state-sponsored physical acts of depravity such as Downloaded by [Northeastern University] at 18:02 01 December 2014 burning flesh, breaking bones, and other types of permanent disfigurement (Asad 1996). Yet groups that work with torture survivors in the torture rehabilitation movement (Genefke 1993;Jaranson 1995) 14 believe that the physical and the psychological effects of torture are not separated so easily; they argue that "trauma's impact on the psyche is as real as a bullet tearing through flesh" (Engdahl and Eberly 1990;Rosenberg 1997:34).…”

Government-Sanctioned Torture: Status of the Rehabilitation Movement

“…Nlajor depression is also extremely common, and is often found concurrently with PTSD (Turner & Goest-Unsworth, 1990). For example, at the CVT in Minneapolis, approximately two-thirds of the clients have dual diagnoses of PTSD and major depression.…”