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The psychology of torture refers to the psychological processes underlying all aspects of torture including the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim, the immediate and long-term effects, and the political and social institutions that influence its use. Torture itself is the use of physical or psychological pain to control the victim or fulfill some needs of the perpetrator.
The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It has 54 divisions—interest groups for different subspecialties of psychology or topical areas. The APA has an annual budget of around $115 million.
Interrogation is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful information, particularly information related to suspected crime. Interrogation may involve a diverse array of techniques, ranging from developing a rapport with the subject to torture.
Dissociation, as a concept that has been developed over time, is any of a wide array of experiences, ranging from a mild emotional detachment from the immediate surroundings, to a more severe disconnection from physical and emotional experiences. The major characteristic of all dissociative phenomena involves a detachment from reality, rather than a loss of reality as in psychosis.
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Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) is a training program, best known by its military acronym, that prepares U.S. military personnel, U.S. Department of Defense civilians, and private military contractors to survive and "return with honor" in survival scenarios. The curriculum includes survival skills, evading capture, application of the military code of conduct, and techniques for escape from captivity. Formally established by the U.S. Air Force at the end of World War II and the start of the Cold War, it was extended to the Navy and United States Marine Corps and consolidated within the Air Force during the Korean War with greater focus on "resistance training."
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Richard Allan Bryant is an Australian medical scientist. He is Scientia Professor of Psychology at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and director of the UNSW Traumatic Stress Clinic, based at UNSW and Westmead Institute for Medical Research. His main areas of research are posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and prolonged grief disorder. On 13 June 2016 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), for eminent service to medical research in the field of psychotraumatology, as a psychologist and author, to the study of Indigenous mental health, as an advisor to a range of government and international organisations, and to professional societies.
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References
- ↑ Department of Psychiatry. "Yale School of Medicine". Yale University. Archived from the original on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
- ↑ Anthony P. Doran; Gary Hoyt; Charles A. Morgan III (2006-08-18). Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) Training: Preparing Military Members for the Demands of Captivity. Chapter 11 of Military Psychology: Clinical and Operational Applications, Guiford Publications. ISBN 978-1-57230-724-7 . Retrieved 2009-09-26.
- ↑ Allen D. Leth, Jr. (2009). "The relationship between Post Traumatic Stress and physical fitness and the impact of Army fitness policy on Post Traumatic Stress prevention" (PDF). U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-07-26. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
Dr. Charles Morgan III, a leading scientist in the field of PTSD, has identified a lack of information in the area of preventing PTSD and has plans to conduct research in this area as well as several planned studies to determine methods of prevention for PTSD (National Center for PTSD).
- ↑ Charles A. Morgan III; Sheila Wang; John Mason; Steven M. Southwick; Patrick Fox; Gary Hazlett; Dennis S. Charney; Gary Greenfield (2001). Steven Hyman (ed.). Hormone Profiles i nHumans Experiencing Military Survival Training. in Stress and the Brain: The Science of Mental Health, Routledge. ISBN 978-0-8153-3752-2.
- ↑ Amanda O'Donnell; Charles A. Morgan; Emil Jovanov; Frank Andrasik; Michael C. Prevost; David J. Blower (October 2002). "The Warfighter's Stress Response: Telemetric and Noninvasive Assessment" (PDF). Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-05-01.
- ↑ Scott Shane (2007-06-03). "Soviet-Style 'Torture' Becomes 'Interrogation'". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 2011-03-17. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
- ↑ David H. Hoffman; Danielle J. Carter; Cara R. Viglucci Lopez; Heather L. Benzmiller; Ava X. Guo; S. Yasir Latifi; Daniel C. Craig (2015-09-04). Report to the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of the American Psychological Association Independent Review Relating to APA Ethics Guidelines, National Security Interrogations, and Torture (PDF). Sidley Austin LLP. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-06-29. Retrieved 2016-11-06.
- ↑ Kaye, Jeffery (September 27, 2009). "Smoking Gun on CIA Torture Conspiracy? Human Experimentation Central to EIT Program". pubrecord.org. The Public Record. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
One of the authors of these reports, Charles A. Morgan III, M.D., who has identified himself in certain settings as a 'Senior Research Scientist' on the CIA’s Behavioral Science Staff, has criticized my coverage of CIA experiments on the psychological and physiological effects of SERE training upon human subjects. While he could not specify what aspects of this coverage he felt were 'inaccurate and misleading,' he did insist: 'The research conducted by our research team at the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is not, and never has been, conducted for any other purpose than to help us understand the pathophysiology of stress disorders and we might better help in the treatment of veterans.' In making his mea culpa, Dr. Morgan never mentions that some of this research was funded (over $400,000) by the Army and the Office of Naval Research. He doesn’t mention his acquaintance with “great people who do military interrogations.” He also forgets to cite his book contribution, where he states (emphasis added): 'The SERE training environment affords the military services the opportunity to collaborate with various other government agencies in exploring old and new techniques in gathering human intelligence.' Of course, he neither confirms nor denies his affiliation with the CIA, an affiliation which I have traced to the CIA’s Science and Technology directorate, through his association (large PDF) with the Intelligence Technology Innovation Center, which is 'a research organization under the CIA’s authority' that 'answers directly to the CIA’s Science and Technology directorate.' But most of all, Dr. Morgan’s arrows fall way short of his target, as I have never accused him of personal involvement in the reverse-engineering of SERE techniques for use in the torture program. What is disturbing is his seeming lack of concern over the possibility that the research he helped conduct was either used to further experiments upon torture victims in the CIA’s clandestine prisons, or contrariwise, was withheld from Office of Legal Counsel lawyers who relied upon CIA advice concerning the effects of techniques derived from the SERE schools. What is indisputable is that by virtue of his position, Dr. Morgan had access to CIA officials just at the time that another department of the CIA, one to which he is affiliated, was, according to the CIA’s own Office of Inspector General Report (large PDF) involved in vetting the SERE techniques for use in interrogations. The other department was the Office of Technical Services (OTS), part of the CIA’s Science and Technology Directorate.
- ↑ Kaye, Jeffery (September 25, 2009). "CIA/SERE Experiments Evidence of Attempt to Mislead on OLC Torture Memos". pubrecord.org. The Public Record. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
The researcher, Charles A. Morgan III, has identified himself, in certain settings, as a CIA behavioral scientist...The 'CIA Experiments' article described some of the research Dr. Morgan and his associates have conducted using SERE trainees, many of them Special Forces personnel. (Professor O’Hara cites one of Morgan's articles himself – see footnote 9 to his paper.) In a June 2000 article, 'Assessment of Humans Experiencing Uncontrollable Stress: The SERE Course,' in Special Warfare (PDF), Morgan and his Special Operations psychologist co-author cite 'recorded changes in cortisol levels' among individuals subjected to SERE techniques as 'some of the greatest ever documented in humans.' As Professor O’Mara notes in his own essay, a 'substantial increase in cortisol levels has a deleterious effect on memory.' The same article described testosterone levels falling in male subjects to below castration levels. Another article by Morgan and his team looked at dissociative psychological effects of SERE techniques upon human subjects. (Dissociation produces symptoms such as depersonalization, derealization, psychic or emotional numbing, and general cognitive confusion.) Results: In study 1, 96% of subjects reported dissociative symptoms in response to acute stress. Total scores, as well as individual item scores, on the dissociation scale were significantly lower in Special Forces soldiers compared to general infantry troops. In study 2, 42% of subjects reported dissociative symptoms before stress and 96% reported them after acute stress.
- ↑ "National Security Professor Featured in New Television Series". University of New Haven. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
- ↑ "Morgan Charles A." IMDb. Retrieved 2022-02-09.