Abuse of Power in The Crucible Essay Example

In the 1950s the CIA forced prisoners to participate in mind control experiments. The experiments generally centered around behavioral modifications via electro-shock therapy, hypnosis, polygraphs, radiation, and a variety of drugs, toxins, and chemicals. Just like in The Crucible when Judge Danforth bullies the girls, Elizabeth Proctor and Mary Warren into confessing, threatening them with death or jailing them if they don't confess. In both of these cases, there is an abuse of power and torture. There are many ways that people can be forced into admitting to crimes such as, psychological torture when a superior gives an ultimatum in order to confess, physical torture using different torture methods, and familial torture which would be going after their families. 

Cruel and unusual punishment is a rising problem in the United States, from presidents to CIA agents to even business people. “The torture report contains new information on the CIA’s use of rectal feeding and rehydration” (Laughland). The CIA has been using different methods of torture for years. The types of torture can range anywhere from physical, psychological, and familial torture. There are many torture tactics the CIA uses such as but are not limited to waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and nudity. “Zubaydah says he was placed in a number of different confinement boxes in an intense period of interrogation in Afghanistan in 2002.” (Laughland)

Shortly after the tragedy of 9/11, the CIA initiated a torture program in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. “After an internal debate over whether Mr. Zubaydah was forthcoming to F.BI. interrogators, the agency hired two C.I.A. contract psychologists to create the now-outlawed program that would use violence, isolation and sleep deprivation on more than 100 men in secret sites, some described as dungeons, staffed by secret guards and medical officers” (Rosenberg). A man by the name of Abu Zubaydah was the first person to witness the C.I.A.’s torture program as he was the first detainee. Years later after he was freed he came forth about the torture he endured. “Americans may find it difficult to acknowledge that top officials in the West Wing of the White House and the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice orchestrated and poorly oversaw a horrific torture program that was responsible for the detention and interrogation of countless detainees” (SSRN). As you could imagine the psychological effects of such a horrifying experience would most definitely leave an impact on someone's mental health. “Rather than “break” the body, these techniques could “break” the minds of detainees or induce their cooperation with interrogators, while leaving no physical marks” (Kramer).

In The Crucible Judge Danforth bullies Elizabeth Proctor and Mary Warren into confessing. Danforth threatens them with death or jailing them if they don't confess to a crime they did not do. This is an example of torture in the aspect of he could have been using some type of unnecessary force to get the women to confess. People of a higher power often let it go to their head and use their power in a dishonorable way because they think that since they are of such high power they have that authority. If the women did not confess they would have dealt with cruel and unusual punishment that did not fit the crime.

There are many ways that people can be forced into admitting to crimes that they may or may not have done. People of high authority often abuse their power to get what they want. The C.I.A. is no exception to torture and abuse of power. Just like in The Crucible when Judge Danforth threatens Proctor and Warren with death or jail time if they did not confess. Abuse of power and use of torture doesn’t just have to be by the C.I.A. or police officers, it can also come from higher-ups such as a CEO of a business or even the people in the office at the White House.