… Pop culture depictions generally show torture to be effective at eliciting actionable intelligence, often in a ticking time bomb scenario that fails to reflect reality. Similarly, public opinion polls ask about support for torture under the presumption that it works.
What impact does framing torture as effective have on public perceptions? In a recent study, we found that it increases the public’s support of torture. CONT.
Erin Kearns & Joseph Young, The Monkey Cage