Reconceptualizing the Sequelae of Political Torture: Limitations of a Psychiatric Paradigm ASHRAF KAGEE & ANTHONY V. NAIDOO Stellenbosch University Abstract A psychiatric model of traumatization has informed most research in psychology on the effects of human rights violations, including political torture, in South Africa. This article highlights some of the limi- tations of a hegemonic psychiatric approach to conceptualizing current sequelae of abuse experienced by political detainees during the apartheid era. It calls attention to the relevance of the South African social and political context in which survivors are located, methodological problems that characterize psychological research on trauma in South Africa and other developing countries, and the relevance of the meaning that survivors may attribute to their experience of detention and torture. Key words post-traumatic stress disorder • psychiatric models • torture • trauma The recently completed work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission called attention to the fact that gross human rights violations, including torture, had been perpetrated by the security forces during the apartheid era in South Africa. Research on survivors of torture, both in South Africa and elsewhere, suggests that such experiences may result in serious psycho- logical sequelae with long-term effects (Foster, Davis, & Sandler, 1987; Pillay, 2000; Simpson, 1993; Somnier & Genefke, 1986). That an experience such as torture most likely involved ‘actual or threatened death or serious Vol 41(1): 46–61 DOI: 10.1177/1363461504041353 Copyright © 2004 McGill University transcultural psychiatry ARTICLE March 2004 at University of Stellenbosch on June 5, 2015 tps.sagepub.com Downloaded from