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<dd><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2>ZNet | Science<br><br>
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<dd><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=5>Mary Pipher Returns Award to
American Psychological Association to Protest Torture Stance<br>
</font>
<dd><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2>by Stephen Soldz; August 25,
2007</b> <br><br>
<dl>
<dd>For several years, psychologist members of the American Psychological
Association (APA) have been fighting to change the APA's policies
allowing psychologists to participate in interrogations widely reported
to be abusive. As the association's 2007 Convention opened last week, the
American Civil Liberties Union
<a href="http://www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/31355prs20070817.html">
called upon the APA</a> to stop psychologists' participating in abusive
interrogations: <br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>"The history of torture is inexorably linked to the misuse of
scientific and medical knowledge. As we move fully into the 21st century,
it is no longer enough to denounce or to speak out against torture;
rather, we must sever the connection between healers and tormentors once
and for all. As guardians of the mind, psychologists are duty bound to
promote the humane treatment of all people. We strongly urge the APA to
adopt the strongest possible stance and issue a moratorium on the
participation of its members in abusive treatment."<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>At the convention the APA decisively rejected this call, as well as
that of hundreds of APA members at a rally and in numerous debates on the
issue. The APA's Council of Representatives rejected, by an approximately
85% to 15% vote, the simple statement that:<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>"Be it resolved that... the roles of psychologists in settings
in which detainees are deprived of adequate protection of their human
rights, should be limited as health personnel to the provision of
psychological treatment."<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>As an alternative, the association passed a
<a href="http://www.apa.org/governance/resolutions/councilres0807.html">
resolution</a>, proposed initially by the Board of Directors, declaring
use of some of the most egregious techniques to be unethical. While the
Board resolution constituted progress for the APA, the resolution
unfortunately contained enough caveats and
<a href="http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blog/2007/08/22/apa-torture-and-the-cia/">
loopholes</a>, many added at the last minute without discussion with
moratorium supporters, that observers were uncertain whether it condemned
the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" techniques, as Physicians
for Human Rights
<a href="http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/library/news-2007-08-19.html">
has argued</a>, or whether, in fact, it continued abetting the CIA's
torture, as Salon</i>'s
<a href="http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/08/21/psychologists/index.html">
Mark Benjamin</a> wondered. <br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>While the APA had undoubtedly hoped for a major public relations
boost from their resolution, putting the controversy behind them, the
reverse seems to have occurred. Democracy Now!</i> went to San Francisco
and provided detailed coverage
<a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/17/1324205">
before</a> and
<a href="http://www.democracynow.org/index.pl?issue=20070820">after</a>
the convention, including the
<a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/20/1628234">
electrifying claim</a> by association member Jean Maria Arrigo that a key
APA ethics taskforce on which she served had been covertly controlled by
the military-intelligence establishment, while Agence France-Presse</i>,
perhaps tongue in cheek, entitled their report
"<a href="http://www.enews.ma/psychologists-limit_i65385_6.html">US
psychologists limit roles in torture of military prisoners</a>" and
Salon</i> entitled Mark Benjamin's convention report
"<a href="http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/08/21/psychologists/index.html">
Will psychologists still abet torture?</a>" <br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>In the days since the convention ended, the APA has taken another hit
as the first editorial in a mainstream paper, the
<a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/5076433.html">
Houston Chronicle</a>, stated quite clearly, "Psychologists have no
place assisting interrogations at places such as Guantanamo Bay."
<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>"The worst argument for psychologists' presence at
interrogations comes from U.S. Army Col. Larry James, director of the
psychology department of a military medical center," the Chronicle
went on to explain.<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>"'If we lose psychologists from these facilities, people are
going to die,' he said at the APA meeting. Psychologists, James
suggested, can rein [in] or report overzealous violators.<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>"Any interrogation system that teeters so close to atrocities
needs more than a psychologist. It requires thorough overhaul and
specific bans of the most extreme methods. The Department of Defense has
listed such prohibitions. The CIA has not.<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>"Torturing prisoners doesn't produce reliable data. It does,
however, violate human rights and strip Americans of the right to protest
torture of its own men and women. Above all, it blurs our credibility as
a democracy worth defending.<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>"No American psychologist should have a part in an interrogation
system with the potential to devolve into murder. No American
should."<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>An even more dramatic development in the struggle occurred this week
when psychologist and New York Times</i> bestselling author Mary Pipher
(author of
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Reviving-Ophelia-Saving-Selves-Adolescent/dp/1594481881/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-4999154-5584405?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187916698&sr=1-1">
Reviving Ophelia</a> among many other books) decided to return her
Presidential Citation award from the American Psychological Association
in protest. Here is her letter to APA President Brehm explaining her
decision:<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>August 21, 2007<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>American Psychological Association, <br><br>
<dd>750 First Street, NE, <br><br>
<dd>Washington, DC 20002-4242<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>President Brehm:<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>I am writing to inform you that I am returning my Presidential
Citation dated 2/02/06 and awarded to me by then President of the
American Psychological Association, Dr. Gerald Koocher. I have struggled
for many months with this decision, and I make it with pain and sorrow. I
was honored to receive this award and proud to be a member of APA. Over
the years I have spoken at national conventions many times and had
enjoyed an excellent relationship with the APA and its staff. With this
letter, I feel as if I am ostracizing a good friend.<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>I do not want an award from an organization that sanctions its
members' participation in the enhanced interrogations at CIA Black Sites
and at Guantanamo. The presence of psychologists has both educated the
interrogation teams in more skillful methods of breaking people down and
legitimized the process of torture in defiance of the Geneva
Conventions.<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>The behavior of psychologists on these enhanced interrogation teams
violates our own Code of Ethics (2002) in which we pledge to respect the
dignity and worth of all people, with special responsibility towards the
most vulnerable. I consider prisoners in secret CIA-run facilities with
no right of habeas corpus or access to attorneys, family or media to be
highly vulnerable. I also believe that when any of us are degraded, all
of human life is degraded. This letter is as much about us as it is about
prisoners.<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>In our Ethics Code we agree to promote honesty and accuracy. Our
involvement in these projects has been secretive and dishonest. Finally,
as psychologists we vow to do no harm. Without question, we violate this
oath when we allow people in our care to be deprived of sleep or
subjected to sensory over-stimulation or deprivation.<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>I cannot accept the August 19, 2007 Reaffirmation of APA's Position
Against Torture (Substitute Motion Three). Under this motion,
psychologists will be allowed to continue working on interrogation teams
that are not subject to the Geneva Conventions. This motion places our
organization on the side of the CIA and Department of Defense and at odds
with the United Nations, The Red Cross, the American Psychiatric
Association and the American Medical Association. With this reaffirmation
we have made a terrible mistake.<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>I know that the return of my Presidential Citation from Dr. Koocher
will be of small import, but it is what I can do to disassociate myself
from what I consider to be a heinous policy. All of my life I have tried
my best to stand up for those with no voices and no power. The prisoners
our government labels as enemy combatants are in this category.<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>I return my citation as a matter of conscience and in the hopes that
the APA will reconsider its current unethical position. We have long been
a wonderful organization that respected human rights and promoted
tolerance, kindness, and peace. Nothing is more fundamental to our core
orientation and professional service to others than our commitment to all
people's inherent dignity, safety and welfare. I hope my letter may be
useful in restoring the APA to its long-respected and important stance as
a beacon of integrity and kindness for all human beings.<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>Respectfully,<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>Dr. Mary Pipher<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>The Lincoln Journal Star</i> has an article on Pipher's action:
<a href="http://journalstar.com/articles/2007/08/23/news/local/doc46ccf4d458103603645050.txt">
Pipher returns award in protest</a> in which she explains the origins of
the Letter:<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>"A report on Monday, by 'Democracy Now,' a national, daily,
independent news program heard in Lincoln on radio station KZUM, set
Pipher in motion.<br><br>
<dd>"The report said the American Psychological Association's
policymaking council had voted to reject a resolution at its annual
convention Sunday that would have banned members from participating in
interrogations at Guantanamo Bay and other U.S. detention centers around
the world often referred to as 'black sites.'<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>"In its place, the council had approved a resolution prohibiting
psychologists from direct or indirect participation in 19 'unethical'
interrogation techniques and called on the U.S. government to ban their
use.<br><br>
<dd>"The list includes mock executions, simulated drowning or
suffocation, sexual humiliation, exploitation of phobias, exposure to
extreme heat or cold and isolation or sleep deprivation 'that represents
significant pain or suffering, or in a manner that a reasonable person
would judge to cause lasting harm.'<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>"The resolution left what Pipher sees as loopholes on such
techniques as sensory and sleep deprivation, which cause people to fall
apart very quickly. And it stopped far short of banning psychologists
from participating in the interrogations of prisoners at the military
sites, she said.<br><br>
<dd>"The vote upset Pipher, who has worked with victims of torture
and has seen the lifelong harm it can inflict."<br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd>It is to be hoped that other prominent psychologists will join Dr.
Pipher and hundreds of other psychologists in their efforts to restore
ethics and integrity to the profession of psychology, and to end the US
regime of abuse and torture of detainees. <br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd> <br><br>
<dd><a href="mailto:ssoldz@bgsp.edu">Stephen Soldz</a> is a
psychoanalyst, psychologist, public health researcher, and faculty member
at the <a href="http://www.bgsp.edu/">Boston Graduate School of
Psychoanalysis</a>. He is one of the founders of the Coalition for an
Ethical APA. He maintains the
<a href="http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blog/">Psyche, Science, and
Society</a> blog, providing extensive coverage of the issue of
psychologist involvement in interrogations.<br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
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