Book Review: Why torture doesn’t work: The neuroscience of interrogation

• Author: Megan Stoltz
• DOI: 10.1177/1057567719859057
• Published date: 01 September 2020
• Date: 01 September 2020
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

O’Mara, S. (2015).

Why torture doesn’t work: The neuroscience of interrogation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 336 pp.

$32.00, ISBN 978-0-674-74390-8.

Reviewed by: Megan Stoltz , George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

DOI: 10.1177/1057567719859057

Shane O’Mara, professor of experimental brain research at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, asserts

that there is very little empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness of interrogation under torture.

Undoubtedly, an important but understudied area of focus relevant to international criminal justice,

O’Mara challenges both the purpose and the efficacy of “enhanced interrogation”—or torture—in

eliciting valuable information. O’Mara discloses his own moral stance against torture from the

beginning, but he sets out to evaluate the evidence for or against torture objectively, nonetheless.

He presents a comprehensive review of existing research that should make the reader question the

continued use of torture.

Contrary to supporters of “enhanced interrogation” who might suggest that torture is an effective

way to incentivize the retrieval of memories and the recall of information, O’Mara’s book, Why

Torture Doesn’t Work: The Neuroscience of Interrogation, argues that torture is ineffective or even

countereffective at inducing memory retrieval. He offers, instead, that torture is often conducted for

punitive or retributive reasons with no grounding in evidence-based reasoning. This book suggests

that while government-issued documents condoning torture (such as the “Torture Memos” and the

U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on the CIA’s use of torture and interrogation) use some

scientific language in an attempt to sound credible, the sources they cite are sparse. This book seeks

to present a thorough scientific evalua tion using all the evidence available, which govern ment

reports have failed to do.

Each chapter presents a topic pertinent to interrogation under torture and provides evidence of the

method’s futility. Chapter 1 is an expansion of the book’s Introduction, reviewing common uses of

torture and the lack of evidence supporting them. Chapter 2 provides an overview of human memory

systems and memory retrieval and discusses the malleability of memory and the possibility of false

memories. Chapter 3 consider s various techniques for detectin g deception including technolog y

(polygraph, functional magnetic resonance imaging [fMRI]) and behavioral cues and then presents

a number of indicators that these techniques are unreliable. Chapter 4 explains the cognitive impair-

ments that often result from stress and pain, arguing that subjecting someone to such conditions is

counterproductive if the ultimate goal is accurate intelligence collection. Chapter 5 similarly presents

the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation, while Chapter 6 discusses the cognitive deficits that result

from extreme temperatures and starvation. Chapter 7 switches perspectives and suggests that torturing

another person may have harmful long-term effects on the torturer as well as the tortured.

As a conclusion, Chapter 8 compares torture with rapport-based methods of interrogation. Here,

O’Mara mentions the traditional argument that torture is a quicker method at acquiring information,

compared to rapport-based methods, which take too long when time is of the essence. He counters

that claim with evidence that interrogations under torture often take days, weeks, months, or longer.

Thus, he contends there is no evidence that torture is any quicker than rapport-based methods. Thus,

when possible, there is no reason to avoid using less harmful rapport-based methods of interrogation.

The book presents a logical argument constructed from a synthesis of existing research, rather

than collecting and analyzing any original data. Indeed, it is nearly impossible to ethically conduct

research on the effects of torture on human subjects, and he cites this practical limitation as one of

the reasons that no direct research exists. O’Mara pieces together, instead, evidence from historical

accounts, anecdotal evidence, and simulated laboratory experiments from psychology, criminology,

and a variety of other disciplines.

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