The Effects of Torture: Two Community Studies.

Abstract

The goal of the 2 studies discussed in this article was to explore how persons who have undergone torture and other general trauma differ from persons who have undergone only general trauma and to compare the effects of torture to other kinds of traumas. The studies were conducted in 2001 and 2003. Contrary to our hypotheses, we found that although tortured individuals have a significantly higher trauma dose, they are more resilient, are more socioculturally adjusted, have more posttraumatic growth, and practice their religion more. They are more tolerant of differences in religion, race, and culture, and feel more supported. However, they are less healthy physically than individuals in the community who were not tortured. We used theories of attribution, identity trauma, and cumulative trauma to understand the results. Recommendations for counseling and therapy are discussed.

The Mental Health Effects of Torture Trauma and Its Severity: A Replication and Extension

“…Partial correlation and hierarchical regression results found that torture trauma and torture severity were not significant predictors of PTSD, other cumulative life traumas that happened before and after torture were the highly significant predictors. These results replicated previous findings of Kira et al, 2006;and Hollifield et al, 2011. Path analysis results indicated that torture predicted as hypothized the more severe symptoms of CTD (Complex PTSD).…”

“…After confirmation of the accuracy of the translations, the measures were pilot tested in focus groups. Previous studies have supported the psychometrics of the translated instruments with Iraqi refugees (Kira et al, 2006(Kira et al, , 2008. For clients who speak only dialects or other languages, an interpreter translated the questionnaire directly to them.…”

“…There is good evidence supporting a dose-response relationship between cumulative trauma and development and maintenance of PTSD in torture survivors (e.g., Johnson & Thompson, 2008;Mollica, McInnes, Poole, & Tor, 1998). In two large community studies of Iraqi refugees, torture did not predict the elevation of symptoms of PTSD, after controlling for the effects of traumas occurring before and after torture, (Kira et al, 2006). Recent study by Hollifield, Warner, & Westermeyer, 2011, replicated these results.…”

“…The negative effects of torture on health, especially on neurological systems, for example, closed head and physical injuries, are well documented (e.g., Kira et al, 2006, Vorbrüggen & Baer, 2007. However, the negative mental health effects of torture and its dynamics are not completely understood, which confuse clinicians who want to design appropriate interventions to this type of traumas.…”

Gender Discrimination (GD): A Conceptual Trauma-Based Framework for GD and the Development of Gender Discrimination Inventory

“…This single-item measure, drawn from Nietzsche's famous dictum "What doesn't kill me makes me stronger," has been used in research with torture survivors and refugees, as a measure of posttraumatic growth (Kira et al, 2006). Adding the item to the posttraumatic growth inventory PTGI 21 items (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996) in a factor analysis, its communality was the highest (.899).…”