Thanks to Paul Doecki at Vanderbilt for pointing out this article. Some excerpts:
Psychologists have moved to the center of this controversy for diverse reasons. First, the Pentagon’s stated intention to rely on psychologists rather than psychiatrists fits well with the American Psychological Association’s stated belief in contributing to detainee interrogations to prevent terrorism.
In stark contrast to these enforceable protections and standards [of laboratory animals], the American Psychological Association decided against adding enforceable standards for psychologists’ work with detainees. Why refuse to give detainees the enforceable ethical mandate of humane treatment that the code explicitly accords to laboratory animals?
Psychology prides itself as being a scientific discipline that is empirically grounded and open to questions. In addition to the other questions raised in this article, it is worth carefully considering the answers that the American Psychological Association provides for such fundamental questions as: What methods did it use to determine that “psychologists knew not to participate in activities that harmed detainees”? In addition, what methods did it use to determine that psychologists’ behavior would not, however unintentionally, depart from such knowledge?
Finally, the president of the American Psychological Association wrote in 2007: “The Association’s position is rooted in our belief that having psychologists consult with interrogation teams makes an important contribution toward keeping interrogations safe and ethical.” Over the years that the detainee interrogations have been conducted, what methods of assessment has the association used to determine that the interrogations have been kept safe, causing no harm to detainees, and what methods has the association used to determine that the interrogations have been kept ethical, in accordance with the detainees’ human and legal rights?
Read the the entire excellent article here:
American Psychological Association & Detainee Interrogations: Unanswered Questions
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