APA and Psychologists’ Involvement with Torture
You might have heard that psychologists were involved in the torture or “enhanced interrogations” conducted by the Bush administration. Psychologists suggested that their involvement developing methods hastened responses from prisoners and lessened the need for physical torture. To me this just means that the psychological torture was probably more painful than physical torture might have been.
The American Psychological Association has been criticized by its own members for not responding more quickly to the actions of these psychologists. A timeline linking to APA’s responses during the entire discussion is here. They just released a letter to its members stating that participation in torture is unethical for psychologists. Some people are still disappointed that APA isn’t suggesting or imposing sanctions against the psychologists who participated.
Andrew Sullivan The Daily Dish: The Latest from the APA On Torture. The Atlantic June 18, 2009
(Thanks to Monica Bigler for apprising me of the above article and letter.)
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