Mental health experts have issued warnings that the planned public broadcast of a US execution could cause post-traumatic stress disorder in viewers. The announcement follows confirmation that the death by firing squad of Nidal Hasan will be livestreamed on December 3.
Hasan, a former army psychiatrist, killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that the execution would be public to demonstrate the serious consequences of such attacks. Hegseth described the 2009 incident as a radical Islamist attack carried out by a soldier within the ranks.
Psychological Impact on Viewers
Dr Simon Duff, a forensic psychologist at the University of Nottingham, noted that while research on the specific impact of watching executions is limited, studies on journalists witnessing violence show clear trauma responses. He suggested that individuals without strong psychological resilience should avoid viewing the event.
Duff also highlighted the risk of procedural errors. He pointed to the failed lethal injection of Christa Pike in the US as an example of how executions do not always proceed as planned. Such failures, he argued, would likely increase the trauma experienced by those watching the broadcast.
Neil Greenberg, a professor of defence mental health at King’s College London, stated that trigger warnings often fail to prevent people from watching distressing content. Instead, these warnings can cause anticipatory anxiety, leading to distress even before the event begins. Greenberg advised that individuals with pre-existing mental health conditions are at particular risk and recommended that mainstream media refrain from transmitting highly traumatic images or sounds.
Historical Context of Public Executions
Public executions were once common in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world, but they were abolished in England and Wales in 1868. Prof Rosalind Crone, a historian at the Open University, explained that the practice was ended due to growing concerns about the effect of hangings on crowds.
Crone noted that historical records show crowds at public executions were often composed of people missing work, as well as individuals who were drunk, rowdy, and celebratory. She cited Charles Dickens, who wrote in 1846 that public executions generated nothing but ribaldry, debauchery, and levity rather than sorrow or terror.
Crone emphasized that public executions do not serve as a deterrent. She added that using a video broadcast medium could create new and potentially more dangerous problems in managing crowd responses. Only two out of 17 countries that carried out executions last year did so publicly.
The upcoming broadcast marks the first public execution in the US in nearly a century. Officials have confirmed the details of the event, which will be carried out by a firing squad of soldiers.
Source: The Guardian
