I'm starting an educational series. Let me know if I should keep going. Every so often, I'll do another one with a different topic. Feedback needed!

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Torture devices date back as far as 3000 B.C. Some inflict extreme pain or psychological methods. Some reasons to use torture devices or methods is to extract information, get revenge, or a hate of that person because of their looks, religion, race, etc. People will still use torture methods today, but mostly in the military.

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Pyschological Methods of Torture

•Blackmailing
•Stalking
•Shaming or Public Humiliation
--Being displayed naked in public areas.
•Shunning
•Subjected to phobias
--Shown a fear such as spiders, snakes,
--bugs, etc
•Long periods of interrogation
•Sleep deprivation
•Solitary confidment
•Threats

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Physical Methods of Torture

•Flogging
•choking
•Cutting
•Denailing
•Crushing
•Whipping
•Sound
--Low-pitched to high-pitched
•Electicity
•Removal of Genitals
•Punching/beating

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There are plenty more methods of torture but there are way too many to list. Maybe the most famous torture session is the one of Jesus Christ (Please no religious debates). According to the Bible, He was put on a crown of thorns which cut his head. Next, I believe he was flogged 39 times, just enough to keep him alive (40 was known to kill a man). A flog is a whip with pieces of bone or glass on the rope part. It was made to stab the skin and tear at the flesh. Here is a picture of a flog.

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The next instrument of torture is the Iron Maiden. This is a medival torture device that dates back to the late 1700s. Most people have seen this, but didn't know what it's called. The Iron Maiden is an iron casket that is made to unfold in the front to allow a human being to be put inside. Inside, you will find sharp steel spikes that will puncture the victim when the casket is closed. The Iron Maiden was designed not to kill the person, but to arrange the spikes to that they never puncture and vital organs. Here is a picture of the Iron Maiden.

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The next one I will discuss is electric torture. The most common today is the taser. The next most common is the electrics chair. The electic chair is basically a makeshift torture method that required only a wooden chair, some cables, straps, and a 1700 volt battery. The electric chair is a common method of execution in the United states today. A less common form of electic torture is the electric belt. This is mostly used on prisoners do that when they try to escape, a push of a button from an officer will inject the prisoner with about 1000 volts of electricity. Here is a picture of the electric belt.

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The last one I'm going to talk about is the Rack. The rack is an extremely inhuman form of torture. It literally stretches your body to the max. It has caused dislocation, breakage of ligaments, bones, or cartilage, etc. Here is a description on wikipedia about the rack.

The rack is a torture device consisting of a rectangular, usually wooden frame, slightly raised from the ground, with a roller at one, or both, ends, having at one end a fixed bar to which the legs were fastened, and at the other a movable bar to which the hands were tied. The victim's ankles are fastened to one roller, and the wrists are chained to the other.

This was truly a horrible way to extract information. Here is a picture of the rack.

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Sources:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Rack_(torture_device)
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Torture_devices
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Iron_maiden_(torture)