Abstract
Torture is perhaps best understood as a collection of practices designed to inflict suffering upon helpless subjects. It can include both physical and psychological pain, and, while torture has been conducted by private actors, our concern here is regarding torture authorized and carried out by governments. We examined two broad theories that have been put forth to explain public support for torture. First, torture has been understood as a practice that advanced societies should reject (whether they actually do so is another question), and thus part of the collection of post-materialistic values that characterize public attitudes in advanced liberal democracies. We label this explanation the “developmental hypothesis” of support for torture. Second, scholars such as Karen Greenberg and Stephen Holmes have posited that societies are driven to support torture when terrorism threatens them. In this study, we call this the “threat hypothesis” of support for torture.
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© 2014 Tracy Lightcap and James P. Pfiffner
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Mayer, J.D., Koizumi, N., Malik, A.A. (2014). Does Terror Cause Torture? A Comparative Study of International Public Opinion about Governmental Use of Coercion. In: Lightcap, T., Pfiffner, J.P. (eds) Examining Torture. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137439161_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137439161_3
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