Torture: Did the American Psychological Association Collude With Torture of Human Beings?

[Bluebear]

By Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés

That the Justice Department and the CIA announced today, three days after it was first noted that ‘interrogations’ video tapes were missing, that they will probe destruction of taped interrogations… that may be less important to many of us, than this other issue….

There’s another critical reason why many of us who are shrinks want to retrieve and view, not just the two missing videotapes of CIA interrogations of two al Qaeda suspects, but many more of the tapes of so-called interrogations

Why? It’s our opinion that we think we will find sickening evidence that people of our own profession will be on those tapes, egregiously misguided or demented members of our own profession for whom the gloss of ‘being important’ to a government, has overwhelmed their decency utterly.

We think those tapes hold stomach-turning evidence that some in our profession have helped to ‘supervise, and predict and prophesy’ to those who are doing the direct torture –— the psychological breaking points of those being tortured.

The prestigious American Psychological Association has had so many important social justice outreaches over the decades, and so many good souls as members, (including those vociferously speaking out about what they see as APA’s ‘if/but’ defense and acceptance of torture under certain conditions)…. But, the APA may never recover from its public ambivalence about torture of human beings under President Bush’s administration.

That an organization of healers and helpers could not unequivocally step up and say, ‘We refuse to participate in any way to torture others,’ is surely the darkest moment in the profession worldwide since April of 1945.

MORE.......

http://themoderatevoice.com/war/torture/16419/torture-did-the-american-psychological-association-collude-with-torture-of-human-beings/

[spanone]

1. wow, never even thought about this possibility. my God.

[silverojo]

3. There are definitely right-wing psychiatrists

They need psychiatric help more than their patients, that's for darned sure. :mad:

[Bluebear]

4. 'They need psychiatric help more than their patients'

Ain't that the truth!

[EFerrari]

8. The APA is an organization for psychologists. They don't want

to turn on the Pentagon because they a lot of internships and contracts from them. This is about money.

[Supersedeas]

2. lots of organizations are tainted with their allegiance to the Bushist regime

[bobthedrummer]

5. k

[ConsAreLiars]

6. There's a revealing interview on Democracy Now!

with both the official ("we collaborate because") and opposition ("aiding torture is not really a healing thing") positions put forward. To their credit, both the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association have taken stands that their members should not help the torturers. http://www.democracynow.org/2007/8/17/dissident_members_challenge_american_psychological_association

(edit because I omitted the link)

[EFerrari]

7. Not only did they but they still are while pretending that they're not.

Something like ten colleges have passed resolutions in protest of the APA.

[aikoaiko]

9. IIRC, the APA stance is that psychologists cannot participate directly in torture.

But they can work in non-torture interrogations and more peripherally giving advice.