Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Human Rights-Based Approaches to Clinical Social Work pp 31–61Cite as

Rights-Based Approach to Working with Torture Survivors

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Rights-Based Approaches to Social Work ((SBHRSWP))

Abstract

This chapter starts by defining torture and identifying some of the recent definitional controversies and key contextual factors. The prime targets of torture, prevalence estimates, and common sequelae are discussed and the problem of US exceptionalism is explored. Torture is framed as a human rights violation and relevant international human rights mechanisms and tools are identified. Core principles of a rights-based approach (RBA) to clinical and forensic social work practice with survivors of state-sponsored torture within a US context are described and promoted in this chapter. Discussion of the United States’ use of torture is included, while drawing predominantly on cases of asylum seeking survivors in the USA who were tortured prior coming to the USA. Key roles for clinical social workers related to the implementation of the United Nations’ Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) are explored. The chapter concludes with discussion of the importance of combating impunity and suggested class activities and resources.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The names and other identifying information in all case material have been changed to protect confidentiality, and aspects of each case are a composite from more than one person.

  2. 2.

    While the term torture has been used by some to describe violent acts inflicted during domestic violence, child abuse, and other atrocities, the focus of this chapter will be on torture when the perpetrator is a governmental/state authority and/or when the authorities cannot or will not protect an individual from torture at the hands of others in keeping with the United Nations’ definition (UN General Assembly, 1984, Article 1.1).

  3. 3.

    Asylum seekers must establish that they have been persecuted by the authorities in their country based on at least one of five grounds: political opinion, religious beliefs or practices, nationality, race, or membership in a social group. Information about who is eligible to apply for asylum in the United States can be found at: http://www.uscis.gov/faq-page/asylum-eligibility-and-applications-faq. For more information see the US Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) website at: www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-asylum/asylum.

  4. 4.

    Supermax prisons are supermaximum security prisons, or control units, that have the highest level of security. The conditions amount to long-term solitary confinement.

  5. 5.

    The Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA), cofounded by a clinical social worker (Gerald Gray), has successfully prosecuted some of these perpetrators in the United States (see CJA website for details: http://www.cja.org/). Social workers and other trauma clinicians have contributed to fighting impunity by providing forensic assessment, testimony, and psychological support to survivor witnesses during the preparation and litigation phases of these cases.

  6. 6.

    A “disappeared” person is one who has been abducted by the authorities or a rebel, guerilla, or militia group that the authorities cannot or will not protect them from. Family members, friends, and associates of the disappeared person are unable to locate him or her. There may be no news of the person for months or years. Occasionally, the disappeared person may reappear alive or as a corpse, often with evidence that he or she has been abused or tortured. Eventually, if they are not found, it is usually assumed that the disappeared person has been murdered. In such cases, the uncertainty about the disappeared person’s fate or lack of bodily remains can be agonizing for the loved one(s) left behind.

  7. 7.

    Problems with the credible fear process were reported during a recent Congressional hearing in the United States (Noferi, 2014). Some torture survivors have been denied a credible fear hearing and deported back to their homeland where their lives were in danger (Chideya, 2005).

  8. 8.

    Information about these forms of relief can be obtained from the USCIS website: www.uscis.gov

  9. 9.

    The USCIS website is a good source for continually updated information about the different stages of the asylum process and related policies (www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-asylum/asylum).

  10. 10.

    The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) Immigration (2014) indicated that there were 328,094 immigration cases pending in FY2014 in the United States.

  11. 11.

    General Comments are published on thematic issues by the human rights treaty bodies (in this case, the Committee Against Torture) to clarify how the treaty body interprets the content of various human rights provisions.

  12. 12.

    As survivor Sr. Diana Ortiz writes, “To call us victims is to validate the image our torturers tried to mold us into and leave us—weak, subjugated, helpless. We are not victims. We are survivors” (Ortiz, 2001, p. 15).

  13. 13.

    See Ciorciari and Heindel (2011) for further discussion of these issues drawing on examples from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

  14. 14.

    A provision of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (1996) codified by the Immigration and Nationality Act, the one-year bar makes any individual who seeks asylum in the United States ineligible for asylum unless they apply within 1 year of arrival (8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(B)). Exceptions to this rule exist, allowing a waiver for those applicants who successfully demonstrate materially changed circumstances affecting their eligibility or extraordinary circumstances that made it impossible for them to apply within their first year in the United States (see Musalo & Rice, 2008).

  15. 15.

    The School of the Americas (SOA) was renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) in 2000/2001.

References

  • American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU]. (2012). ACLU briefing paper: The shackling of pregnant women & girls in U.S. prisons, jails & youth detention centers. ACLU Reproductive Freedom project—ACLU National Prison Project. Retrieved from www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights/women-prison+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a.

  • Amnesty International. (2006, May 19). UN Committee Against Torture condemns US detention policies, calls for change. London: Amnesty International. AI Index: AMR 51/079/2006. Retrieved from http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR51/079/2006/en/b14f64b5-d42d-11dd-8743-d305bea2b2c7/amr510792006en.html.

  • Amnesty International. (2013). Amnesty International report 2013: The state of the world’s human rights. London, UK: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amnesty International. (2014, May 13). Torture in 2014: 30 years of broken promises. London, UK: Author. Retreived from http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ACT40/004/2014/en.

  • Aristizabal, H., & Lefer, D. (2010). The blessing next to the wound: A story of art, activism, and transformation. New York, UK: Lantern Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barbera, R. (2014). Learning by doing: Integrating social & economic justice and human rights into social work practice. In K. R. Libal, S. M. Berthold, R. L. Thomas, & L. M. Healy (Eds.), Advancing human rights in social work education. Alexandria, VA: Council on Social Work Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Basoglu, M., Paker, M., Ozmen, E., Tasdemir, O., & Sahin, D. (1994a). Factors related to long-term traumatic stress responses in survivors of torture in Turkey. Journal of the American Medical Association, 272(5), 357–363.

    Google Scholar 

  • Basoglu, M., Paker, M., Paker, O., Ozmen, E., Marks, I., Incesu, C., & Sarimurat, N. (1994b). Psychological effects of torture: A comparison of tortured with nontortured political activists in Turkey. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151(1), 76–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Basoglu, M., Mineka, S., Paker, M., Aker, T., Livanou, M., & Gok, S. (1997). Psychological preparedness for trauma as a protective factor in survivors of torture. Psychological Medicine, 27(6), 1421–1433.

    Google Scholar 

  • Basoglu, M., Livanou, M., & Crnobaric, C. (2007). Torture versus other cruel, inhuman & degrading treatment: Is the distinction real or apparent? Archives of General Psychiatry, 64, 277–285.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berthold, S. M. (2013a). Medical and psychological evidence of trauma in asylum cases. In S. K. Brown & F. D. Beam (Eds.), Encyclopedia of migration. SpringerReference.com. Retrieved from http://www.springerreference.com/docs/html/chapterdbid/349344.html.

  • Berthold, S. M. (2013b). Torture. Encyclopedia of social work online. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.1057.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berthold, S. M., & Gray, G. (2011). Post-traumatic stress reactions and secondary trauma effects at tribunals: The ECCC example. In B. Van Schaack, D. Reicherter, & Y. Chhang (Eds.), Cambodia’s hidden scars: Trauma psychology in the wake of the Khmer Rouge (pp. 92–120). Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Documentation Center of Cambodia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bichescu, D., Neuner, F., Schauer, M., & Elbert, T. (2007). Narrative exposure therapy for political imprisonment-related chronic posttraumatic stress disorder and depression. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 2212–2220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boehnlein, J. K., & Kinzie, J. D. (2011). The effect of the Khmer Rouge on the mental health of Cambodia and Cambodians. In B. Van Schaack, D. Reicherter, & Y. Chhang (Eds.), Cambodia’s hidden scars: Trauma psychology in the wake of the Khmer Rouge (pp. 33–45). Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Documentation Center of Cambodia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bogner, D., Herlihy, J., & Brewin, C. R. (2007). Impact of sexual violence on disclosure in Home Office interviews. British Journal of Psychiatry, 191, 75–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bogner, D., Brewin, C., & Herlihy, J. (2009). Refugees’ experiences of Home Office interviews: A qualitative study on the disclosure of sensitive personal information. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 36, 519.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonanno, G. A. (2004). Loss, trauma, and human resilience: Have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events? American Psychologist, 59, 20–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonanno, G. A., Westphal, M., & Mancini, A. D. (2011). Resilience to loss and potential trauma. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 7, 511–535. doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032210-104526.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boscarino, J. A. (2004). Posttraumatic stress disorder and physical illness: Results from clinical and epidemiologic studies. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1032, 141–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briere, J. (2002). Treating adult survivors of severe childhood abuse and neglect: Further development of an integrative model. In J. E. B. Myers, L. Berliner, J. Briere, C. T. Hendrix, T. Reid, & C. Jenny (Eds.), The APSAC handbook on child maltreatment (2nd ed., pp. 175–202). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briere, J. (2010, July 1). A summary of self-trauma model applications for severe trauma: Treating the torture survivor. Supplementary material for a webinar presentation to the Advanced Clinicians Peer Consultation Group of the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs. Los Angeles, CA: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briere, J., & Lanktree, C. B. (2011). Treating complex trauma in adolescents and young adults. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briere, J., & Scott, C. (2012). Principles of trauma therapy: A guide to symptoms, evaluation and treatment (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnett, A., & Peel, M. (2001). Asylum seekers and refugees in Britain: The health of survivors of torture and organized violence. British Medical Journal, 322(7286), 606–609.

    Google Scholar 

  • Center for Victims of Torture (2005). Healing the hurt: A guide for developing services for torture survivors. A project of the National Capacity Building Project. St. Paul, MN: Author. Retrieved from www.HealTorture.org.

  • Chideya, F. (2005, May 3). U.S. settles with Kenyan asylum seeker. NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4628618.

  • Cienfuegos, A. J., & Monelli, C. (1983). The testimony of political repression as therapeutic instrument. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 53, 43–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ciorciari, J. D., & Heindel, A. (2011). Trauma in the courtroom. In B. Van Schaack, D. Reicherter, & Y. Chhang (Eds.), Cambodia’s hidden scars: Trauma psychology in the wake of the Khmer Rouge (pp. 121–147). Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Documentation Center of Cambodia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. A., Mannarino, A. P., & Deblinger, E. (2006). Treating trauma and traumatic grief in children and adolescents. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costanzo, M., Gerrity, E., & Lykes, M. B. (2007). Psychologists and the use of torture in interrogations. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 7(1), 7–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coughlin, S. S. (Ed.), (2012). Post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic health conditions. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalenberg, C. (2000). Speaking trauma: The inadequacy of language in trauma treatment. In C. Dalenberg (Ed.), Countertransference and the treatment of trauma (pp. 57–84). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. D. (2012, July 30). Consign Bush’s ‘torture memos’ to history: How should we mark the 10th anniversary of the effort by the Bush administration to justify torture? By ensuring it never happens again. Op-Ed in Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-davis-torture-memos-bybee-20120730%2C0%2C6058023.story.

  • Dube, S. R., Felitti, V. J., Dong, M., Giles, W. H., & Anda, R. F. (2003). The impact of adverse childhood experiences on health problems: Evidence from four birth cohorts dating back to 1990. Preventive Medicine, 37(3), 268–277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Einhorn, B. J., & Berthold, S. M. (in press). Reconstructing Babel: Bridging cultural dissonance between asylum seekers and asylum adjudicators. In B. N. Lawrance & G. Ruffer (Eds.), Adjudicating refugee and asylum status: The role of witness, expertise, and testimony. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Engstrom, D. W., & Okomura, A. (2004). A plague of our time: Torture, human rights, and social work. Families in Society, 85, 291–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fabri, M. R. (2001). Reconstructing safety: Adjustments to the therapeutic frame in the treatment of survivors of political torture. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 32(5), 452–457.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fabri, M. R. (2011). Best, promising and emerging practices in the treatment of trauma: What can we apply in our work with torture survivors? Torture, 21(1), 27–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fazel, M., Wheeler, J., & Danesh, J. (2005). Prevalence of serious mental disorder in 7000 refugees resettled in western countries: A systematic review. Lancet, 365(9467), 1309–1314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrada-Noli, M., Asberg, M., Ormstad, K., Lundin, T., & Sundbom, E. (1998). Suicidal behavior after severe trauma. Part 1: PTSD diagnoses, psychiatric comorbidity, and assessments of suicidal behavior. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 11(1), 103–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gangsei, D., & Deutsch, A. C. (2007). Psychological evaluation of asylum seekers as a therapeutic process. Torture: Journal on Rehabilitation of Torture Victims and Prevention of Torture, 17(2), 79–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilligan, J., & Lee, B. (2013, September 5). Report to the New York city board of correction. Retrieved from http://solitarywatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Gilligan-Report.-Final.pdf.

  • Gosztola, K. (2014, March 11). The CIA, Senate Intelligence Committee & the culture of impunity for torture. The Dissenter. Retrieved from http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2014/03/11/the-cia-senate-intelligence-committee-the- culture-of-impunity-for-torture/.

  • Grassian, S. (2006). Psychiatric effects of solitary confinement. Journal of Law and Policy, 22, 325–383.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guskovict, K. (2012, August 8). Identifying and reinforcing resiliency in torture survivors. Webinar sponsored by the National Partnership for Community Training, a program of the Florida Center for Survivors of Torture. Retrieved from http://gulfcoastjewishfamilyandcommunityservices.org/refugee/2012/07/12/webinar-on-identifying-and-reinforcing-resiliency-in-torture-survivors/#more-1201609.

  • Hajjar, L. (2012). Torture: A sociology of violence and human rights. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herlihy, J., & Turner, S. (2009). The psychology of seeking protection. International Journal of Refugee Law, 21(2), 171–192.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herlihy, J., & Turner, S. (2013). What do we know so far about emotion and refugee law? Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, 64(1), 47–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hertel, S., & Libal, K. (2011). Human rights in the United States: Beyond exceptionalism. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holtz, T. (1998). Refugee trauma versus torture trauma: A retrospective controlled cohort study of Tibetan refugees. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 186(1), 24–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Human Rights Watch/American Civil Liberties Union. (2006). Custody and control: Conditions of confinement in New York’s Juvenile Prisons for Girls. New York, NY: Human Rights Watch.

    Google Scholar 

  • Human Rights Watch. (2010). My so-called emancipation: From foster care to homelessness for California youth. New York, NY: Human Rights Watch.

    Google Scholar 

  • Human Rights Watch/American Civil Liberties Union. (2012). Growing up locked down: Youth in solitary confinement in jails and prisons across the United States. New York, NY: Human Rights Watch.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ignatieff, M. (2005). American exceptionalism and human rights. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, Pub. L. No. 104–208, Div. C, § 604(a), 110 Stat. 3009–690 (1996).

    Google Scholar 

  • Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, Pub. L. No. 82–414, 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(B). Interim Report of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, delivered to the General Assembly, U.N. Doc. A/66/268 (Aug. 5, 2011).

    Google Scholar 

  • International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). (1949). Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (Third Geneva Convention), 75 UNTS 135. Retrieved from http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b36c8.html. Accessed 12 Aug 1949.

  • International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims [IRCT]. (2013). IRCT defines way forward to realise the right to rehabilitation. World Medical Journal, 59(6), 234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, U., Evans, E. B., & Patsalides, B. (2001). Principles of documenting psychological evidence of torture. Part I & II. Torture, 11(3), 85–89 and 11(4), 100–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanninen, K., Salo, J., & Punamaki, R.-L. (2000). Attachment patterns and working alliance in trauma therapy for victims of political violence. Psychotherapy Research, 10(4), 435–449.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keller, A. S., & Granski, M. (2013, December 16). A U.S. truth commission. Op-ed letter to the New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/opinion/a-us-truth-commission.html?_r=0.

  • Keller, A. S., Rosenfeld, B., Trinh-Shevrin, C., Meserve, C., Sachs, E., Singer. E., … & Ford, D. (2003). Mental health of detained asylum seekers. Lancet, 362(9397), 1721–1723.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinzie, J. D. (2001). Psychotherapy for massively traumatized refugee: The therapist variable. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 55(4), 475–490.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinzie, J. D. (2011). Guidelines for psychiatric care of torture survivors. Torture, 21(1), 18–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinzie, J. D., Jaranson, J. M., & Kroupin, G. V. (2007). Diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. In P. F. Walker & E. D. Barnett (Eds.), Immigrant medicine (pp. 639–651). Philadelphia, PA: Saunders Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinzie, J. D., Riley, C., McFarland, B., Hayes, M., Boehnlein, J., Leung, P., & Adams, G. (2008). High prevalence rates of diabetes and hypertension among refugee psychiatric patients. Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease, 196(2), 108–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kisken, T. (2013, March 7). Local nursing homes leading movement to reduce chemical restraints. Ventura County Star. Retrieved from http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/mar/07/local-nursing-homes-leading-movement-to-reduce/. http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/mar/07/localURL

  • Leahy, P. (2009, February 12). A truth commission to investigate Bush-Cheney administration abuses. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-patrick-leahy/a-truth-commission-to-inv_b_166461.html.

  • Leatherman, J. L. (2011). Sexual violence and armed conflict. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, M. (2012, April 12). Standing up against sexual assault by the state. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/blog/prisoners-rights-womens-rights/standing-against-sexual-assault-state.

  • Luban, D., & Shue, H. (2012). Mental torture: A critique of erasures in U.S. law. Georgetown Law Journal, 100, 823–863.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, G. N., Schell, T. L., Elliot, M. N., Berthold, S. M., & Chun, C.-A. (2005). Mental health of Cambodian refugees 2 decades after resettlement in the United States. Journal of the American Medical Association, 294(5), 571–579.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinez, A., & Fabri. M. (1992). The dilemma of revictimization. Torture, 2, 47–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marton, M., Berthold, S. M., & Libal, K. (2013, November). Working cross-professionally on social justice advocacy projects in refugee services. Presented at the 28th Annual Midwest Clinical Conference: Harnessing the Storm: Responses to the “New Normal”. Interprofessional Center for Counseling and Legal Services at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, Minneapolis, MN.

    Google Scholar 

  • Masten, A. S., & Obradović, J. (2008). Disaster preparation and recovery: Lessons from research on resilience in human development. Ecology and Society, 13(1), 9. Retrieved from http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss1/art9/.

  • Mayer, J. (2009). The dark side: The inside story of how the war on terror turned into a war on American ideals. New York, NY: Anchor Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • McPherson, J. (2012). Does Narrative Exposure Therapy reduce PTSD in survivors of mass violence? Research on Social Work Practice, 22(1), 29–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meffert, S. M., Musalo, K., McNiel, D. E., & Binder, R. L. (2010). The role of mental health professionals in political asylum processing. The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 38(4), 479–489.

    Google Scholar 

  • Méndez, J. E. (2012). The death penalty and the absolute prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment. Human Rights Brief, 20(1), 2–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Méndez, J. E., & Wentworth, M. (2011). Taking a stand: The evolution of human rights. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Modvig, J., & Jaranson, J. (2004). A global perspective of torture, political violence, and health. In J. P. Wilson & B. Drozdek (Eds.), Broken spirits: The treatment of PTSD in asylum seekers and refugees with PTSD (pp. 33–52). New York, NY: Brunner-Routledge Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moio, J.A. (2008). Resiliency and recovery: An exploration of meaning and personal agency for women survivors of state sponsored torture (Doctoral dissertation). Available from Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 3346914).

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, L. W., & Vagins, D. J. (2012, December 12). Written statement of the American Civil Liberties Union for a hearing on “Ending the School-to-Prison Pipeline.” Submitted to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights. Washington, DC: ACLU Washington Legislative Office. Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/aclu_statement_for_sjc_subcomm_hearing_on_the_school_to_prison_pipeline_12_2012.pdf.

  • Musalo, K., & Rice, M. (2008). The implementation of the one-year bar to asylum. Hastings International and Comparative Law Review, 31, 693–715.

    Google Scholar 

  • NASW. (2006). Oppose torture in any form. Washington, DC: NASW. Retrieved from http://www.socialworkers.org/diversity/intl/092206b.asp.

  • National Religious Campaign Against Torture. (n.d.). Solitary confinement: Torture in an age of mass incarceration. Retrieved from http://www.truah.org/images/stories/hrs13-22-NRCAT.pdf.

  • New Tactics in Human Rights. (n.d.). Website. www.newtactics.org.

  • Noferi, M. (2014, January 14). Congressional hearings on asylum seekers facing U.S. expedited removal process. Center for Migration Studies (CMSNY). Retrieved from http://cmsny.org/2014/01/14/congressional-hearings-on-asylum-seekers-facing-u-s-expedited-removal-process/#ixzz2xN7m2OTZ.

  • Northwood, A. (2003). Study group guide for psychotherapy with torture survivors. Minneapolis, MN: Center for Victims of Torture.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nowak, M. (2012). Keynote speech: Torture in the 21st century: Conclusions - six years as UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. In A. Dayif, K. Hesketh, & J. Rice (Eds.), On Torture (pp. 21–30). Jerusalem, Israel: Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, Physicians for Human Rights - Isreael, and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza.

    Google Scholar 

  • Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved from http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx.

  • Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). (2001). CCPR General Comment No. 29: Article 4: Derogations during a State of Emergency. Adopted at the Seventy-second Session of the Human Rights Committee. CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.11. Accessed 31 Aug 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  • Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). (2013). General Comment No. 14: On the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as a primary consideration Retrieved from http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno= CRC%2fC%2fGC%2f14_&Lang=en.

  • Ortiz, D. (2001). The survivors’ perspective: Voices from the center. In E. Gerrity, T. M. Keane, & F. Tuma (Eds.), The mental health consequences of torture. The plenum series on stress and coping (pp. 13–64). New York, NY: Klewer Academic/Plenum Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penturf, S. (2013, October 17). Should the state of Texas be allowed to do this to children? The Liberty Blog. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from www.aclutx.org/blog/%3Fp%3D2051+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a.

  • Physicians for Human Rights and the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture (PHR & Bellevue/NYU). (2003). From persecution to prison: The health consequences of detention for asylum seekers. Boston, MA: Authors.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quiroga, J., & Jaranson, J. M. (2005). Politically-motivated torture and its survivors: A desk study review of the literature. Torture, 15(2–3), 1–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robjant, K., & Fazel, M. (2010). The emerging evidence for narrative exposure therapy: A review. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 1030–1039.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schauer, M., Neuner, F., & Elbert, T. (2005). Narrative exposure therapy: A short-term intervention for traumatic stress disorders after war, terror and torture. Gottingen, Germany: Hogrefe & Huber.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schnurr, P. P., & Green, B. L. (Eds.). (2004). Trauma and health: Physical health consequences of extreme stress. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silove, D., Steel, Z., & Mollica, R. F. (2001). Detention of asylum seekers: Assault on health, human rights, and social development. Lancet, 357, 1436–1437.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skoll, G. R. (2008). Torture and the fifth amendment: Torture, the global war on terror, and the constitutional values. Criminal Justice Review, 33(1), 29–47. doi:10.1177/0734016808315585.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steel, Z., Chey, T., Silove, D., Marnane, C., Bryant, R. A., & van Ommeren, M. (2009). Association of torture and other potentially traumatic events with mental health outcomes among populations exposed to mass conflict and displacement: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of the American Medical Association, 302(5), 537–549.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stop Prisoner Rape (2006). In the shadows: Sexual violence in U.S. detention facilities. A shadow report to the U.N. Committee Against Torture. Retrieved from http://spr.igc.org/.

  • Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998, P.L. 105–320, 18 U.S.C. § 2340(1) (1998).

    Google Scholar 

  • Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) Immigration. (2014). Immigration Court Backlog Tool: Pending Cases and Length of Wait in Immigration Courts. Retrieved from http://trac.syr.edu/phptools/immigration/court_backlog/.

  • UN Committee Against Torture (CAT). (2006). UN Committee against Torture: Conclusions and Recommendations, United States of America, CAT/C/USA/CO/2. Retrieved from http://www.refworld.org/docid/453776c60.html. Accessed 25 July 2006

  • UN Committee Against Torture. (2012, November 19). General Comment No. 3 of the Committee against Torture. Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, CAT/C/GC/3, Geneva: United Nations. Retrieved from http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/docs/GC/CAT-C-GC-3_en.pdf.

  • UN General Assembly. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 217 A (III). Retrieved from http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6b3712c.html. Accessed 10 Dec 1948.

  • UN General Assembly. (1966). International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 999, p. 171. Retrieved from http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3aa0.html. Accessed 16 December 1966.

  • UN General Assembly. (1984). Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1465, p. 85. Retrieved from http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3a94.html. Accessed 10 Dec 1984.

  • UN Human Rights Committee (HRC). (2014). Concluding Observations on the Fourth Periodic Report of the United States of America, CCPR/C/USA/CO/4. Retrieved from http://www.refworld.org/docid/5374afcd4.html. Accessed 23 April 2014.

  • UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). (2004). Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol), HR/P/PT/8/Rev.1. Retrieved from http://www.refworld.org/docid/4638aca62.html.

  • van der Veer, G., & van Waning, A. (2004). Creating a safe therapeutic sanctuary. In J. P. Wilson & B. Drozdek (Eds.), Broken spirits: The treatment of traumatized asylum seekers, refugees, war and torture victims (pp. 187–219). New York, NY: Brunner-Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, J., Burke, G., Kuoch, T., Scully, M., Armeli, S., & Rajan, T. V. (2013). Trauma, healthcare access, and health outcomes among Southeast Asian refugees in Connecticut. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 15(6), 1065–1072.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yalom, I. (1980). Existential psychotherapy. New York, NY: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, University of Connecticut, West Hartford, Connecticut, USA

    S. Megan Berthold

Authors
  1. S. Megan Berthold
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Megan Berthold .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Berthold, S. (2015). Rights-Based Approach to Working with Torture Survivors. In: Human Rights-Based Approaches to Clinical Social Work. SpringerBriefs in Rights-Based Approaches to Social Work. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08560-9_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation