Sexual torture among Arabic-speaking Shi’a Muslim men and women in Iraq: Barriers to healing and finding meaning

Introduction: Rape and sexual torture are frequent experiences among torture survivors, but relatively little is known about how victims respond to and find meaning in these experiences. Method: This study used secondary qualitative interview data from 47 male and female Shi’a Arab victims and survivors of sexual torture and rape in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq to examine how sexual torture affected them, what were the barriers to healing, how they found meaning in their experiences, and how their experiences varied by gender. Results: Respondents experienced profound psychological effects that lasted for years, including: shame, feeling broken and prematurely aged, and wanting to isolate themselves from others. Most female victims who were unmarried at the time of sexual torture never got married. Many survivors found meaning in their experiences by defining their suffering as unjust, placing their experience in the context of a hopeful narrative of Iraqi history, turning to religion, and calling for vengeance upon their persecutors. Discussion: The results of this study show how survivors of sexual torture, most of whom did not receive psychological treatment, draw upon their own resources to find meaning in existential trauma

Global Philanthropy : Does Institutional Context Matter for Charitable Giving?

In this article, we examine whether and how the institutional context matters when understanding individuals' giving to philanthropic organizations. We posit that both the individuals' propensity to give and the amounts given are higher in countries with a stronger institutional context for philanthropy. We examine key factors of formal and informal institutional contexts for philanthropy at both the organizational and societal levels, including regulatory and legislative frameworks, professional standards, and social practices. Our results show that while aggregate levels of giving are higher in countries with stronger institutionalization, multilevel analyses of 118,788 individuals in 19 countries show limited support for the hypothesized relationships between institutional context and philanthropy. The findings suggest the need for better comparative data to understand the complex and dynamic influences of institutional contexts on charitable giving. This, in turn, would support the development of evidence-based practices and policies in the field of global philanthropy.Peer reviewe

Torture Approval in Comparative Perspective

Torture is (almost) universally condemned as barbaric and ineffective, yet it persists in the modern world. What factors influence levels of support for torture? Public opinion data from 31 countries in 2006 and 2008 (a total of 44 country-years) are used to test three hypotheses related to the acceptability of torture. The findings, first, show that outright majorities in 31 country-years reject the use of torture. Multiple regression results show that countries with high per capita income and low domestic repression are less likely to support torture. Constraints on the executive have no significant effect on public opinion on torture

George Thomas: Virginian for the Union

George Thomas was one of the Civil War\u27s most prominent Southern Unionists, known for his heroic leadership at Mill Springs, Chickamauga, and Nashville. A slave owner before the war, he commanded African American soldiers at the Battle of Nashville and the experience transformed him into a stalwart defender of Civil Rights. During Reconstruction, he led the fight against the Ku Klux Klan as the commander of U.S. army troops in Kentucky and Tennessee

Explaining Abu Ghraib: A Review Essay

Four books written by social scientists and published in 2007 are reviewed: The Trials of Abu Ghraib: An Expert Witness Account of Shame and Honor, by Stjepan Mestrovic; The Lucifer Effect, by Philip Zimbardo; Torture and the Twilight of Empire : From Algiers to Baghdad, by Marnia Lazreg; and Torture and Democracy, by Darius Rejali. Prior research on torture has left unsettled the question of the importance of training and direct orders as causes of torture, and the role of liberal democratic institutions in preventing torture. The four books demonstrate that the Abu Ghraib torturers did not act on their initiative, but were encouraged to commit torture by their superior officers and by the effects of their social environment. The torturers did not receive formal training in methods, but did receive informal instruction from CIA and Guantanamo interrogators. While democratic states use torture less frequently than non-democratic ones, they nevertheless do use torture sometimes when faced with severe threats to security. Of the four books, Rejali’s Torture and Democracy stands out for its depth of research and quality of analysis