Mental Health in the War on Terror : Culture, Science, and Statecraft

Neil Krishan Aggarwal's timely study finds that mental-health and biomedical professionals have created new forms of knowledge and practice in their desire to understand and fight terrorism. In the process, the state has used psychiatrists and psychologists to furnish knowledge on undesirable populations, and psychiatrists and psychologists have protected state interests. Professional interpretation, like all interpretations, is subject to cultural forces. Drawing on cultural psychiatry and medical anthropology, Aggarwal analyzes the transformation of definitions for normal and abnormal behavior in a vast array of sources: government documents, professional bioethical debates, legal motions and opinions, psychiatric and psychological scholarship, media publications, and policy briefs. Critical themes emerge on the use of mental health in awarding or denying disability to returning veterans, characterizing the confinement of Guantánamo detainees, contextualizing the actions of suicide bombers, portraying Muslim and Arab populations in psychiatric and psychological scholarship, illustrating bioethical issues in the treatment of detainees, and supplying the knowledge and practice to deradicalize terrorists. Throughout, Aggarwal explores this fascinating, troublesome transformation of mental-health science into a potential instrument of counterterrorism. This title finds that mental-health and biomedical professionals have created new forms of knowledge and practice in their desire to understand and fight terrorism. In the process, the state has used psychiatrists and psychologists to furnish knowledge on undesirable populations, and psychiatrists and psychologists have protected state interests. The book explores this troublesome transformation of mental-health science into a potential instrument of counterterrorism. Mental health, culture, and power in the war on terror -- Bioethics and the conduct of mental health professionals in the war on terror -- The meanings of symptoms and services for Guantanamo detainees -- Depictions of Arabs and Muslims in psychodynamic scholarship -- Depictions of suicide bombers in the mental health scholarship -- Knowledge and practice in war on terror deradicalization programs. Neil Krishan Aggarwal. Includes bibliographical references (pages 173-204) and index. This study finds that mental-health and biomedical professionals have created new forms of knowledge and practice in their desire to understand and fight terrorism, and in the process, psychiatrists and psychologists have either worked uncritically to protect state interests or labored to protect undesirable populations from state control. Professional interpretation, like all interpretations, is subject to cultural forces. Drawing on cultural psychiatry and medical anthropology, the author analyzes the influence of the war on terror in the transformation of definitions for normal and abnormal behavior Table of Contents Preface Acknowledgments 1. Mental Health, Culture, and Power in the War on Terror 2. Bioethics and the Conduct of Mental Health Professionals in the War on Terror 3. The Meanings of Symptoms and Services for Guantánamo Detainees 4. Depictions of Arabs and Muslims in Psychodynamic Scholarship 5. Depictions of Suicide Bombers in the Mental Health Scholarship 6. Knowledge and Practice in War on Terror Deradicalization Programs Epilogue Notes References Index Aggarwal's study finds that mental-health and biomedical professionals have created new forms of knowledge and practice in their desire to understand and fight terrorism, and in the process, psychiatrists and psychologists have either worked uncritically to protect state interests or laboured to protect undesirable populations from state control An investigation into the unintended cultural and psychological consequences of our fight against terrorism.