Abstract
Among traumatic events caused by humans, torture is unique as an activity devoted to the confinement, control, and destruction of other people. Torture is reviewed as a concept in this chapter, and torture methods as they are used today will be described, together with the prevalence of torture practices. Furthermore, the consequences for the individual and for society are considered. The review is based on research findings reported in the professional literature and on the clinical experience gained at the International Rehabilitation and Research Center for Torture Victims (RCT) in Copenhagen, Denmark. Symptoms related to torture practices have received increasing attention over the past 25 years. At the time when the RCT was established in 1984, interest was focused on the aims of torture, its physical and psychological methods, its aftereffects, and treatment of the individual survivor. The focus of the RCT has gradually enlarged to address the needs of the family and friends surrounding the torture survivor. At the same time it was recognized that, when torture is practiced in a society, the state of health throughout the whole society suffers. Thus attention has little by little shifted from the individual survivor to society at large in recognition of the fact that torture is an effective weapon against the social freedoms found in democratic societies.
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