Technicians of Torture

Four syndromes of post‐traumatic stress disorder: Stressors and conflicts of the traumatized with special focus on the Vietnam combat veteran

“…Other situational variables include acts of betrayal by local villagers and stark encounters with examples of the enemy's acts of brutalization toward their own people and toward the prisoners of war (see Note Added in Proof #l). Goldstein and Breslin (1986) recently reviewed conditions under which physicians may become agents of state terror and collaborate in the torture of political prisoners. Although the situation of the physicians is not analogous to that of combat veterans, nonetheless, the authors raise a few points which are worthy of highlighting in this paper.…”

Psychic trauma in victims of crime and terrorism.

“…Psychologists may become propaganda participants in insurgency or terrorism, and physicians can and do become terrorist technicians. The latter has been discussed by Goldstein and Breslin (1986). Numerous instances of abuse by treating professionals have been reported from ancient times, principally by physicians, because of their practice, expertise, and knowledge relating to bodily functions.…”

“…Following the Nuremberg trials in 1948, when it was disclosed that Nazi physicians had overseen practices at the concentration camp ovens and showers and injected live typhus into their patients, the World Medical Association inserted a phrase into its Hippocratic oath stating that physicians would "not permit considerations of race, religion, nationality, party politics, or social standing" to intervene between duty and patient (Goldstein & Breslin, 1986). As seen from examples cited, this provision is not inviolate.…”