Newswise — President George W. Bush has labeled the recent abusive acts of U.S. soldiers on Iraqi prisoners as "un-American." The military claims the incident in Iraq is isolated, but is it? Over the past seven years, Amnesty International has received reports of torture in more than 150 countries. Why kind of person does this to another human being?
"Prisoner abuse has been very common in all past wars," says Paul Newhouse, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, an army veteran who served as division psychiatrist for the 3rd Infantry Division and, during the first Gulf War, served as assistant director of the psychiatry consultation service at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. "There is no evidence that specific personality types are more prone to engage in this type of abuse " the average person can become abusive in extreme circumstances."
A landmark study at Yale performed in the early 1960s showed that study participants were willing to inflict pain on another human being if ordered to do so by an authority figure. Another study, conducted at Stanford in the 1970s, randomly assigned college students to play the roles of prisoner and guard. The "guards" became aggressive, while the "prisoners" became passive and subservient. Among other behaviors, it was noted that the guards would frequently humiliate the prisoners. When the prisoners "rebelled" , the guards became more abusive.
David Fassler, M.D., clinical associate professor of psychiatry, specializes in childhood trauma and has commented widely regarding the negative impact of media on children in particular. He believes that the extremist rhetoric in the current media reinforces stereotypic generalizations and increases the risk of abusive behavior.
"When commentators refer to 'all Iraqis' or 'all Muslims,' this further encourages prejudice and discrimination, setting the stage for abuse, humiliation and even torture," says Fassler, who maintains that the young age of many soldiers also makes them more vulnerable.
"Soldiers who are 18 and 19 years old are still in the throes of adolescence," says Fassler. "They are buffeted by messages telling them that the 'enemy' is 'evil' with strange beliefs and values, which can bring about a sense of superiority and dominance. When the situation is further compounded by loose, lacking or inconsistent leadership, a breakdown of rules, structure and values is almost predictable. In times of extreme stress, even the most stable and predictable person can act in a cruel and unexpected manner."
Newhouse maintains that specific training to reduce the risk of this behavior may be useful, but that leadership is a much more important factor in preventing abuses by military personnel.
"The chain of command must act to ensure that these incidents do not occur by proactively setting the example for respectful handling of prisoners and by appropriate supervision," says Newhouse. "Abuse of prisoners, civilians and others is evidence of a failure of command leadership."
Paul Newhouse, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and director of the Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, served in the United States Army for 10 years and specifically served as the division psychiatrist for the 3rd Infantry Division (the mechanized division that was sent to Kuwait to lead the attack on Iraq). During the first Gulf War, Newhouse was recalled to active duty and took care of wounded soldiers returning from the Gulf War theater. During both these experiences, Newhouse planned and developed doctrine for handling stress casualties of war and treated wounded Gulf soldiers, hoping to prevent long-term stress illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
David Fassler, M.D., is a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and practicing child and adolescent psychiatrist in Burlington, Vermont. The author of Help Me, I'm Sad: Recognizing, Treating and Preventing Childhood and Adolescent Depression (Penguin, 1998), Dr. Fassler serves as a Trustee-at-Large of the American Psychiatric Association and a member of the Work Group on Consumer Issues for the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
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