A restraint chair used during force-feeding of hunger-striking detainees at the U.S.-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
The leadership of the American Psychological Association (APA) has announced a ban on psychologists working with the military or intelligence agencies of the United States. With 120,000 members, the APA is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. The ban follows an exposé of the APA’s cozy relationship with the national intelligence community since 9/11. After years of essentially being co-opted by the counterterrorism effort, the APA is now saying: No more; psychologists must be “more focused on human rights.” Primarily the ban prohibits participation in interrogations related to national security.
The scandal from which the APA hopes to distance itself revolved around the use of “enhanced” interrogation techniques (which critics called torture). These practices were designed and implemented with the direct involvement of the psychology profession. According to critics, by cooperating with counterterrorism efforts (by the CIA and Department of Defense intelligence agencies) APA officials compromised the organization’s ethics guidelines. As a result, psychologists participated in the torture of “enemy combatants” in detention, in violation of the Geneva Accords. In the process, the government was given “cover” and could claim that its interrogation tactics were safe, legal, and effective. These measures included sleep deprivation, simulated drowning (so-called waterboarding), and other means of inducing fear in detainees.
It should be noted that the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association both banned their membership from such participation in 2006. The scandal came to light largely because of efforts by psychologists themselves, as well as through testimony before a U.S. Senate panel.
Image credit: © Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Related Links
- Psychology Society Bans Work with Government Interrogators
This article discusses the decision of the APA to ban future work with the U.S. military or intelligence agencies.
(Source: Wired, August 7, 2015) - The APA Kills Off the “Gunslinger Model” of Psychology in Favor of Human Rights
This opinion piece endorses the belated move by the American Psychological Association (APA) leadership to disengage from any involvement with torture; the author also wrote this article.
(Source: Forbes, August 8, 2015) - Lessons Must Be Learned after Psychology Torture Inquiry
This editorial in a highly respected science journal notes the history of close relations between the APA and the military.
(Source: Nature, July 14, 2015) - Torture Is Bad. So Psychologists Helped the US Redefine It
This article outlines the scope of the torture scandal from which the APA leadership is now trying to distance itself.
(Source: Wired, August 7, 2015)
