Modern History
In the first half of the twentieth century, hooding was rarely used. During World War II, the Gestapo used it especially in the Breendonk prison in Belgium. It became more popular after World War II as a means of "stealthy torture," since it makes public testimony more difficult: the victim can testify only with difficulty as to who did what to them. In the 1950s, hooding was used in South Africa and French Algeria; in the 1960s, in Brazil and Franco's Spain, in the 1970s, in Northern Ireland, Chile, Israel, and Argentina; and since then in a great number of countries.
In some cases, hooding was accompanied by white noise, such as in Northern Ireland; such techniques used by British troops followed up on research done in Canada under the direction of Donald O. Hebb, where "sensory isolation" combined with white noise was found to cause extreme disorientation.
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