Seattle University Collaborative Projects - International Academy of ...

potential as an essential, major innovative tool to help respond to trauma, improve well being,and correct wrongs in populations. Broad reach and interactivity of conventional and new modesprovide immediate awareness of social injustice; with synergy to galvanize political action andthe will to change policy. A media interest group/partnership develops ‘meaning’ in the processof dealing with shared trauma, and creates fresh opportunities (“opens space”), so vital incorrecting wrongs related to social violence and torture. Interactions between those whoexperience the trauma, concerned citizens, scientists, and mental health and communicationsprofessionals shape the media intervention. Survivors are active co-producers, not passive“objects" of the message. Embedding media in diverse communities improves accuracy,validates participants, and, thereby, accelerates and enlarges critical information exchanges thatcan alter attitudes and improve behavior. Strong alliance with truth and commitment to civilsociety are essential for healing. Around the globe, grass roots and broadcast organizationsemploy social media, news, entertainment, talk and drama/soap formats to forge reconciliation,confront evil and facilitate social cohesion. Examples to illustrate media’s role to improve coexistenceafter ethnic violence and trauma in Rwanda and Kenya include the dramatized docusoap/webapproach. These range from broadcasting prime time to mobile units and discussiongroups in rural areas.How do you Know When It’s Torture?Barry H. Roth, Harvard Medical School (broth@bidmc.harvard.edu)The forensic psychiatric expert’s assessment of torture survivors who manifest PosttraumaticStress Disorder and apply for refugee asylum is a paradigmatic example of the interface ofpsychiatry and the law. While it is necessary to acknowledge the utility of current dominant andwell-established protocols, it is also imperative to note and correct their failures and limitations.This paper illustrates a model which simultaneously comprehends and designates the negativedimensions of the humanitarian catastrophe of torture and brings forth monumental and profoundpositive strengths of character which sustain survivors. Cases drawn from two decades ofevaluations of torture demonstrate this innovative update of mainstream medical-scientificpractice. A reproducible and easily communicated heuristic model respects clinical variables andreports the interactivity of individual psychological factors with the cultural/political nexus. Aconsistent pattern emerged from review of country reports, survivor affidavits, interviews andforensic reports and testimony to the court. Ordinary means led to extraordinary findings whichmade it possible to incorporate and supersede previous paradigms that have defined torture andnarrowly designated psychological ability to respond due to an illness-based mentality. Torture isa crime of specific intent – to deconstruct and shatter the human connections of their subjects.Survivors had the force of human ties to sustain them. Necessary and legitimate methods achievevalid examination and forensic reporting. Professionals have the force to do right – verifiableobjective means nurture justice and social progress.72. Historicizing Mental Health Law and Policy in Japan177