Forensic Assessment of Psychological Torture

Abstract

This article defines psychological torture as the use of techniques of cognitive, emotional, or sensory attacks that target the conscious mind and cause psychological suffering, damage, or identity breakdown in most subjects subjected to them. The idea is helpful to introduce a change of outlook from a pain-centered approach to a self and identity centered approach. There are three types of psychological torture methods: (1) methods that attack the cognitive and emotional system, (2) methods that manipulate the body without physical contact and (3) methods that operate on the body but which, due to their characteristics, the psychological impact goes far beyond the physical impact. This article provides a conceptual framework and a general guide to exploring forms of psychological torture. It introduces specific assessment and documentation protocols for some paradigmatic methods: threats, self-aware emotions (humiliation, guilt, and shame), sleep deprivation, hunger,and starvation. These are examples of conducting specific explorations, as the number of actual methods is endless. One of the critical elements in the documentation of torture is the credibility analysis of the allegations. The article offers key elements as applied to torture survivors from the point of view of forensic psychiatry. It also discusses the documentation of Torturing Environments, where it is the combination of different forms of physical or psychological coercion that, taken one by one, would not be considered as ill-treatment or torture, but whose combination causes a level of physical and psychological suffering that exceeds, in most people, the threshold of what can be considered, from a medical point of view, "severe" suffering as required in the United Nations definition of torture. Finally, the article outlines the main clinical consequences, on the understanding that the existence of sequelae is a corroborative element of the existence of torture, but that their absence in no case rules out torture.