The Use of Music to Soften Up Detainees

News reports about the conditions of confinement in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay have highlighted the use of music to break interrogation subjects. Some have argued that repetitive and loud music can disorient and shock a subject, break down his will and eventually induce cooperation.

Army Times reports, that a wide variety of music was used to break the will of detainees including the themes from Barney and Sesame Street. It is possible that using music to break an interrogation subject will lead to actionable intelligence from that subject but there is no scientific support for such an approach. Sixty years of research, both in a military and law enforcement context, suggests that disorienting a subject will lead to educing false information from that subject or information of little value. A disoriented subject makes for bad information.