Children, torture and psychological consequences

Torture is a strategic means of limiting, controlling, and repressing basic human rights of individuals and communities that is often covert and denied by authorities. Deliberate infliction of pain and suffering or intimidation or coercion on children to obtain a confession or information, for punishment of real or perceived offences on the basis of discrimination about race, ethnic or political affiliation, is practiced in many places around the world. Impact of torture on children may vary depending on the child's coping strategies, cultural and social circumstances. We at Refugee Therapy Centre provide psychotherapy and associated treatments to people who have been tortured, giving priority to children. While our main objective is provision of clinical services, our focus is also to influence policy and practice by searching for evidence and demonstrating solutions to improve the lives, homes and communities of children disadvantaged by torture and the services that support them. We seek to provide some remedies to children of refugees who are suffering the consequence of trauma that they experienced and demonstrate good practice. In this paper I will give a brief introduction of our work at the RTC. I then discuss and reflect on children and torture. I will present a vignette and some examples of clinical intervention.