Principles of Treatment and Service Development for Torture and Trauma Survivors

• Published in: International Handbook of Traumatic Stress Syndromes pp. 751 - 762
• Main Authors: Cunningham, Margaret, Silove, Derrick
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA Springer US
• Series: The Plenum Series on Stress and Coping
• Subjects: Ethnic Community; Host Country; Refugee Camp; Service Development; Staff Member
• ISBN: 9781461362197; 1461362199
• DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4615-2820-3_63

Undoubtedly, torture is one of the most traumatic threats to psychic integrity that any human being can undergo. Systematic assaults on the integrity of the personality are used by repressive regimes to incapacitate the individual in order to intimidate the family and the wider community. Torture aims to destroy the victim’s sense of identity and to engender feelings of “debilitation, dependency, and dread” (British Medical Association, 1986). The wider goal of this process is to render political leaders and social militants powerless, to prevent further political opposition to the ruling regime, and to act as a strong deterrent to potential opponents in the community (Ugalde & Ziwi, 1989). Techniques which deliberately induce a sense of helplessness in conjunction with feelings of guilt and shame combine with physical, sexual, and psychological violence to paralyze the psyche and dissipate opposition to the status quo.