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Peer Review

Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment

Reviewed:

Oct 15, 2016 by Psychology
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Ratings

Overall Rating: 3.0 stars
Content Quality: 3.0 stars
Effectiveness: 2.8 stars
Ease of Use: 3.0 stars
Overview:

This comprehensive collection of websites and references provides extensive support for students who may be researching and writing papers on the subject of torture. The website homepage provides the following background and information.

One element in the solution to the universal practice of torture while in custody will come through education. If this subject can be integrated into secondary school and college curricula, a long-term solution will have begun. Broad-scale awareness achieved through the education of two or three generations is the surest way to induce systemic change. An enlightened society, broadly aware of the nature and scale of police torture, will not allow the practice to continue.

Type of Material:

Reference Material
Recommended Uses:

• This website could be used as a data source for an assignment about torture, police brutality and other types of ill treatment. Most of the links are to reports from 2000 and on which suggest that a current view of the topic could be gleaned from using this website.
Technical Requirements:

Only a basic web browser is needed. The website was successfully reviewed using the most recent versions of Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Internet Explorer.
Identify Major Learning Goals:

The purpose of this repository site is to link learners to a variety of reports and data sources about the prevalence and circumstances of victims of torture. After using this repository, students will be able to: • Identify data and reports about victims of torture. • Apply critical thinking skills to research on victims who are tortured by police, forced disappearances, or other types of ill treatment.
Target Student Population:

The chief target would be undergraduates studying social psychology, criminal psychology, clinical psychology or ethics. However, the website could be useful for both undergraduate as well as graduate level coursework and students studying police brutality, torture, human trafficking and similar issues. Some content may not be appropriate for younger students (e.g., high school).
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Students would need to know how to access a website and how to assess the quality of primary and secondary source material.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:

• This module appears to be comprehensive covering most countries on the planet. Further, the topic is valuable in its attention to the plight of victims of torture. Under each country, there are multiple links to reports from a variety of sources including NGOs, governmental agencies, and advocacy groups. It offers a valid representation of reports from across the globe. Additionally, the website links to other types of reports by country such as human trafficking, child prostitution and street children. • There is a host of high quality information. Topics are engaging and presented in an interesting manner. Information is provided from a global perspective and includes both historical and recent events.
Concerns:

• While all the website links are properly sourced, the written content on the website does not have references nor is there detailed information about the authors of the site. • The site clearly states that it is a collection of reports from other publications and, as such, the information provided has not been substantiated. As an educational website, it could be challenging for students to differentiate the quality of the various resources.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:

• This website appears to be comprehensive in its coverage of information from all the countries of the world. The author does attempt to connect the content to different disciplines, and provides a list of resources for students. • A host of resources is provided; the majority of resources are country-by-country reports of ethical codes, human rights violations and cases from the media.
Concerns:

• There are no learning outcomes associated with this website and no resources for instructors. Information for students is brief and somewhat limited. • At present, the site is a comprehensive collection of information, but it does not provide explicit guidance on how to utilize the information in a classroom setting or how the information links to a typical psychology curriculum. Use of the site is dependent upon the instructor formulating learning objectives and activities that utilize the resources provided.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:

• As a repository, there are links to a wide variety of information on this site. • The information is clearly organized by country with general topic links provided. The information is comprehensive in scope including a wide range of countries. The site is best used if you know what countries you are interested in investigating.
Concerns:

• Resources are primarily text-based with some graphics. The site presents numerous links but little guidance on how to explore. There is not an intuitive use of the site that would naturally engage the learner or guide them through an exploration of the resources. Some instructors may wish to encourage students to access resources from the primary sites first.
Other Issues and Comments:

This website raises awareness about an important problem related to victims of torture or other types of ill treatment.
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