Moral Exclusion and Torture: The Ticking Bomb Scenario and the Slippery Ethical Slope

Opotow, S.V. (2007). Moral Exclusion and Torture: The Ticking Bomb Scenario and the Slippery Ethical Slope. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 13(4), 457-461. https://doi.org/10.1080/10781910701727343

Abstract

Psychologists’ involvement in torture at Guantanamo and other sites raises important ethical questions. This paper argues, first, that the eclipse of human rights by a culture of security fosters the moral exclusion of detainees. Second, the Ticking Time Bomb scenario, often invoked to support security-justified torture, can separate people from deeply held ethical values, effecting exclusionary attitudinal change in individuals and societies. Third, state-sponsored extralegal detention and torture are not passing events; instead, they can stain the nation and the profession of psychology and remain in the public consciousness over time.