{"product_id":"unspeakable-acts-ordinary-people-the-dynamics-of-torture-9780679419181","title":"Unspeakable Acts  Ordinary People: The Dynamics of Torture","description":"\u003cp\u003eA compelling investigation of three incidents of torture in the Western world and what they tell us about how ordinary people can become torturers  about the rationalizations societies adopt to justify torture  about the potential in each of us for acting unspeakably.  Using firsthand interviews  official documents  and newspaper accounts  John Conroy examines interrogation practices in a Chicago police station  two raids conducted by the Israeli army  and the case of Northern Irelands \"hooded men \" who were tortured by British forces. He takes us inside the experience of the victim  the mind of the torturer  and the seeming indifference of the bystander.  In the spirit of Hannah Arendts Eichmann in Jerusalem  Conroy visits with former torturers  describes their training and family backgrounds  and examines the justifications they and their societies offer for the systematic abuse of men  women  and children. He interviews survivors of torture and learns of the coping mechanisms they deployed and the long-term effects of their ordeals. He draws on those meetings and on previous studies  such as Stanley Milgrams Obedience to Authority  to help us understand the dynamics of torture.  Recent events -- particularly the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and well-publicized cases of police brutality in our own country -- make it essential that we understand such acts of violence  as the first step in eradicating them. Lucid and unblinking  Unspeakable Acts  Ordinary People takes us further toward this goal than any book we have had yet.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45953313374261,"sku":"ByrdShop_0679419187","price":38.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780679419181.jpg?v=1788184870","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/unspeakable-acts-ordinary-people-the-dynamics-of-torture-9780679419181","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}