Torture on Goli Otok through the prism of psychology in the works of Petar Kostić

• Main Authors: Krstić Miroslav Ž., Jaredić Biljana N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Faculty of Philosophy, Kosovska Mitrovica 2020-01-01
• Series: Zbornik Radova Filozofskog Fakulteta u Prištini
• Subjects: torture; goli otok island; "goli otok's experiment of self-directed re-education"; "brainwashing"; abuse of psychology in shaping human behavior
• Online Access: https://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/0354-3293/2020/0354-32932001295K.pdf

The subject of this research is the scientific contribution of the psychologist Petar Kostić, as an objective scientist, in the analysis and interpretation of the methodology of torture in the camp for political prisoners on Goli Otok, through the prism of psychology. Understanding the specific form of torture applied on Goli Otok is the main subject of research. According to the UN, torture or abuse is an act of intent to inflict pain, grievous physical suffering, or grievous mental suffering on a person for the purpose to obtain informations, confessions or the punishment for the act of which the person is suspected. The central part illuminates the theoretical determinations and the scientific model of the system of "self-directed" re-education in the Goli Otok, through the action of psychological behaviors as an experimental frame of the Skiner's type and brainwashing as a practical system of "self-directed" re-education. Nake Island is a poor, uninhabited island in the Adriatic Sea. Since 1949, Tito's non-believers, primarily supporters of Stalinism, nationalists, and a number of supporters of democratic movements and parties from the years immediately after the Communist Revolution were located on the Goli Otok island and St. Grgur, in a camp for Yugoslav political prisoners. Most of the buildings on the island are located between Mala Tetina Bay and Melna Bay. The last political prisoner was released in 1956. The theoretical framework that underlies this is the four basic backings of the personality of the clinical psychologist Professor dr. Joseph Berger. The paper discusses further topics related to the abuse of psychology in shaping human behavior, the composition and functioning of the system of "self-directed" upbringing, the psychological supportive personality system that implicitly starts from the psycho-ecological theory of human beings: body, belonging, thinking and purpose, faith and hope , Milgram's, Ashov's and Zimbard's experiments in "self-directed" re-education. Torture process is explained through five stages of brainwashing process explained by Skinner's method- reward and punishment. Selidman's concept of learned helplessness was also used to better understand the behavior of the Naked island prisoners. Through the Skinner's model, the techniques used in torture are explained and the effects they have on an individual's psychological functioning. At the end of the paper, the implications for mental health are explained and what, in some Naked island victims, helped them to survive and be functional after the torture they have survived.