Torturing Environments explores how contemporary practices of coercion have evolved beyond traditional physical torture, increasingly relying on psychological pressure, structural violence, and the manipulation of social and economic conditions. This book further develops the groundbreaking concept of “Torturing Environments,” offering a new lens to understand how states and institutions can generate suffering intentionally without overt physical brutality.

Drawing from forensic, clinical, legal, and human rights perspectives, Torturing Environments provides an in-depth analysis of the mechanisms that produce sustained psychological harm, including detention conditions, harassment, fabricated criminalization, intimidation of families, and deliberate economic deprivation. It presents the Torturing Environment Scale (TES 2.0), an updated tool for the measurement of coercive environments, and introduces eighteen practical Quick Reference Cards to guide documentation and assessment in fieldwork, forensic reporting, and litigation. Each card offers clear, hands-on guidance for assessing specific conditions within Torturing Environments—covering topics such as security planning, trauma-informed interviewing, documenting solitary confinement, coercive interrogation, threats or attacks on identity and dignity, among others.

Written for lawyers, human rights practitioners, mental health professionals, forensic experts, scholars, students, and engaged readers, Torturing Environments delivers an essential and accessible framework for identifying, analyzing, and confronting emerging forms of ill-treatment and torture. It is a vital contribution for those committed to protecting human dignity in complex contemporary settings.

Author Biography

Pau Pérez-Sales is a Psychiatrist and Clinical Director of the SiR[a] Center for Assessment and Rehabilitation of Torture Survivors. He is Editor-in-Chief of Torture Journal, author of Psychological Torture (Routledge 2016), and a forensic expert in national and international courts.

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