Community Psychology Conf 2008

There will be two broad themes for the conference this year:Day One: The relationship between critical and community psychology, and the way our values impact on our practice. Day Two: Mental health in our communities; campaigns, projects, initiatives, including the role of recoveryDate: 18th and 19th September 

November 19, 2007

Dr. Sharon Brehm
President, American Psychological Association
Department of Psychology
1101 East 10th Street
Bloomington, IN 47405-7007

Dear Dr. Brehm:

I have been a member of the American Psychological Association since 1962 and am a Fellow of Division 27, but I hereby resign from the organization. In stating my reasons, I can do no better than refer you to the attached copy of the October 7, 2007 letter to you from Marybeth Shinn, Professor of Applied Psychology and Public Policy at New York University, and soon to be my faculty colleague in Vanderbilt’s Department of Human and Organizational Development. I was pleased to have received and commented on earlier drafts of Professor Shinn’s eloquent and thorough argument, and I applaud her candor and courage.

I have been teaching ethics to undergraduate and graduate students for almost 20 years and was always pleased and proud to recommend the APA Code as perhaps the finest professional code of ethics in the world. I was particularly proud because of the role my mentor, Nicholas Hobbs, played in developing the first version of the code in the 1950s. This semester, I was ashamed to have to tell my students about the ethically problematic APA position on interrogation and torture that has been emerging over the last several months.

In sum, the situation has become intolerable, and I submit my resignation with deep sorrow and regret.

Sincerely,

Paul R. Dokecki [ paul.r.dokecki@vanderbilt.edu ]
Professor of Psychology
Dept. of Human and Organizational Development
Peabody College #6 Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN 37203

“because the American Psychological Association continues to condone psychologists’ work in detention centers that violate international law and because of actions by APA’s leadership to discourage dissent from its policies in this matter.”

Beth Shinn resigns from American Psychological Association

This program series explores an issue that has challenged our community: The role of psychologists in interrogations. Many groups within our Association will come together in these programs to explore aspects of this issue from clinical, legal, and ethical perspectives. Experts from outside the Association will collaborate on program panels with some of the profession’s foremost experts, to reinforce our Association’s commitment to human rights and our mandate to enhance human welfare.