“Making a Choice: APA Reform or Business as Usual?”

3
146

Former president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility (PsySR), Roy Eidelson discusses efforts to undermine the Hoffman report which revealed the American Psychological Association’s collusion in torture. “First, from a familiar playbook, we have the obligatory attack on the patriotism of Hoffman and those who have criticized psychologists’ participation in abusive detention and interrogation operations,” he writes. “The most outrageous example comes from two retired military officers, David Bolgiano and John Taylor. In a recent piece they described the Hoffman Report as a ‘classic attack of cowards’ and also stated, ‘By the publication and release of this report, the APA becomes a willing co-conspirator to the likes of al Qaeda and ISIS.’”

Article →

3 COMMENTS

  1. “Intimidation, strategic deception, and obfuscation have no constructive role to play as the APA tries to chart an ethical course forward after a tragic period of psychologist involvement in detainee torture and abuse. ”

    No constructive role to play? They’re developing and mastering their skills.

    Psy-ops.

    “Psyops, or psychological operations, is a term used to describe the techniques of psychological manipulation used in warfare. These operations are used to deceive, confuse, disrupt and demoralize the enemy, with an aim toward weakening enemy resistance or even causing enemy forces to surrender and enemy populations to capitulate.

    As the flip-side to the ancient wisdom that knowledge is key to all successful warfare strategies, the art of deliberately sewing deception has been understood and practiced for thousands of years.”

    https://www.corbettreport.com/psyops-101-an-introduction-to-psychological-operations/

    “Their area of specialization – what some call adversarial operational psychology – involves national security operations designed to harm or exploit, where targets have no informed consent protections and where interventions are often classified and beyond the reach of outside ethical oversight. ”

    Psy-ops. They’ve been utilized in war. Simple as that.

    “The weeks and months ahead are a crucial time for redeeming the APA and our profession. … The divide that matters is the one between psychologists who recognize the urgent need for accountability and reform and those who instead insist that no wrongdoing took place and that business as usual should prevail.”

    LOL!! First of all, you cannot reform evil. Second, of course the APA is going to continue to thrive in business as usual!

    From the report,

    “The gist of the allegations was that APA made these ethics policy decisions as a substantial result of influence from and close relationships with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and other government entities, which purportedly wanted permissive ethical guidelines so that their psychologists could continue to participate in harsh and abusive interrogation techniques being used by these agencies after the September 11 attacks on the United States. Critics pointed to alleged procedural irregularities and suspicious outcomes regarding APA’s ethics policy decisions and said they resulted from this improper coordination, collaboration, or collusion. Some said APA’s decisions were intentionally made to assist the government in engaging in these “enhanced interrogation techniques.” Some said they were intentionally made to help the government commit torture. ”

    The government is evil: sadistic, twisted, perverted, lethal. I lovingly and proudly stand with Iran in their rightful charges against the United States. This country is seethingly psychotic, sick and twisted. I myself have been a victim of an evil government collaboration and conspiracy, and have been victim of their evil, criminal, vile, insane, murderous tortures. MANY of us have been.

    The more hilarious instance is that anybody thinks they have any authentic choice.

    No, you don’t.

    Report comment

    • Supposedly they have now forbidden the psychologists from taking part in interrogations. However, I’ve not seen any sign of them wanting to punish the people who did it nor do I believe they will enforce it in future. I hope they prove me wrong but the more I know the more cynical I get.

      Report comment

LEAVE A REPLY