Stephen Soldz interviewed on Oregon's KBOO-Psychologists and Torture
San Francisco Chronicle article on protest 8/18/2007, page B - 2. Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff
Writer.
ACLU calls on American Psychological Association to Ban Torture. Link to article here.
ABC-7 KGO TV News Round-up Video is available at this link, and text transcript is here.
Link to more press coverage of the convention.
Arrigo presentation on PENS Task Force at the APA Convention.
Amy Goodman presents video link to Arrigo Presentation on PENS Task Force.
9/18/2007 Letter from Olson, Reisner and Soldz responding to open letters from former APA
President Gerald Koocher and Olivia Moorhead-Slaughter, Chair of the 2005 PENS Task
Force, both of which criticized Jean Maria Arrigo's claims of irregularities in the PENS Task
Force.
CQ Weekly 9/17/2007, Torture Issue Ties Up Psychologists Association by Shawn Zeller
Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia. Letter to APA President Brehm returning her 2006
Presidential Citation.
Video Links to Mary Pipher's Interview on Youtube:
Part 1, Part 2.
Audio interview with Mary Pipher on the Canadian Broadcasting Company with rebuttal from
APA Communications Director Rhea Farberman. Listen here.
Scott Horton, Harpers Magazine, November 18, 2007: The Psychologists and Gitmo.
Marc Benjamin, Will Psychologists Still Abet Torture. Salon.com, August 21, 2007.
Amy Goodman, Psychologists in Denial About Torture. syndicated column, August 22, 2007.
Rorschach and Awe by Katherine Eban in Vanity Fair (VF.com), July 17, 2007, describing the
role of psychologists in designing and implementing US torture practices.
Website continuing further links to articles on the APA interrogation controversy:
www.focusreframed.com
San Francisco Chronicle article on protest 8/18/2007, page B - 2. Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff
Writer.
ACLU calls on American Psychological Association to Ban Torture. Link to article here.
ABC-7 KGO TV News Round-up Video is available at this link, and text transcript is here.
Link to more press coverage of the convention.
Arrigo presentation on PENS Task Force at the APA Convention.
Amy Goodman presents video link to Arrigo Presentation on PENS Task Force.
9/18/2007 Letter from Olson, Reisner and Soldz responding to open letters from former APA
President Gerald Koocher and Olivia Moorhead-Slaughter, Chair of the 2005 PENS Task
Force, both of which criticized Jean Maria Arrigo's claims of irregularities in the PENS Task
Force.
CQ Weekly 9/17/2007, Torture Issue Ties Up Psychologists Association by Shawn Zeller
Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia. Letter to APA President Brehm returning her 2006
Presidential Citation.
Video Links to Mary Pipher's Interview on Youtube:
Part 1, Part 2.
Audio interview with Mary Pipher on the Canadian Broadcasting Company with rebuttal from
APA Communications Director Rhea Farberman. Listen here.
Scott Horton, Harpers Magazine, November 18, 2007: The Psychologists and Gitmo.
Marc Benjamin, Will Psychologists Still Abet Torture. Salon.com, August 21, 2007.
Amy Goodman, Psychologists in Denial About Torture. syndicated column, August 22, 2007.
Rorschach and Awe by Katherine Eban in Vanity Fair (VF.com), July 17, 2007, describing the
role of psychologists in designing and implementing US torture practices.
Website continuing further links to articles on the APA interrogation controversy:
www.focusreframed.com
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Stephen Soldz Conducts His Own "Harsh Interrogation" of PENS Alumnus Bryce Lefever's
"Open Letter to Military Psychology"
"Open Letter to Military Psychology"
In a May 17 entry on his blog, also published as an article in OpEd News, Stephen Soldz, co-founder of the
Coalition for an Ethical Psychology, critiques Bryce Lefever's recent "Open Letter to Military Psychology." It
seems that Dr. Lefever came in for some criticism among his military psych peers after his recent NPR interview
in which he defended military psychologists' involvement in interrogations in CIA-run prisons. In his letter, Dr.
Lefever claims the status of a victim, blindsided by the attacks NPR journalist Alix Spiegel: "I had no particular
reason to suspect that she would lie, twist and manipulate so egregiously."
When not busy defending himself from Alix or from his Military Psychology cronies' push-back after the
interview, Lefever dropped gems like the following, regarding his appointment to the PENS Task Force: "I was
given a voice in this important debate. This occurred by my appointment to the PENS Taskforce in 2005. This
appointment was officially requested by my Specialty Leader. It was sanctioned by the Navy."
He also accused those who crafted, advocated for, and voted for the recent APA Referendum banning
psychologists' participation in torture (a sizeable percentage of the overall APA membership) of having the
"breathtaking arrogance of suggesting how my military colleagues should and should not practice in settings that
they have decided are or have been abusive to our Detainees."
And then he capped it all off with the following ode to learned helplessness: "In a world of terror, the peaceful,
moral, productive citizen must be protected by those who would deprive his rights by force, terror and deceit.
This is what I swore to do when I took my oath. Our enemies are both foreign and domestic." Perhaps it's up to
us to decide whether this last statement should be interpreted as an admonition or a threat.
In either case, having people like Dr. Lefever charged with keeping "us" safe from "them," (while he
simultaneously acknowledges the slipperiness of these categories) is altogether too strong an argument for ours
being a "world of terror."
Coalition for an Ethical Psychology, critiques Bryce Lefever's recent "Open Letter to Military Psychology." It
seems that Dr. Lefever came in for some criticism among his military psych peers after his recent NPR interview
in which he defended military psychologists' involvement in interrogations in CIA-run prisons. In his letter, Dr.
Lefever claims the status of a victim, blindsided by the attacks NPR journalist Alix Spiegel: "I had no particular
reason to suspect that she would lie, twist and manipulate so egregiously."
When not busy defending himself from Alix or from his Military Psychology cronies' push-back after the
interview, Lefever dropped gems like the following, regarding his appointment to the PENS Task Force: "I was
given a voice in this important debate. This occurred by my appointment to the PENS Taskforce in 2005. This
appointment was officially requested by my Specialty Leader. It was sanctioned by the Navy."
He also accused those who crafted, advocated for, and voted for the recent APA Referendum banning
psychologists' participation in torture (a sizeable percentage of the overall APA membership) of having the
"breathtaking arrogance of suggesting how my military colleagues should and should not practice in settings that
they have decided are or have been abusive to our Detainees."
And then he capped it all off with the following ode to learned helplessness: "In a world of terror, the peaceful,
moral, productive citizen must be protected by those who would deprive his rights by force, terror and deceit.
This is what I swore to do when I took my oath. Our enemies are both foreign and domestic." Perhaps it's up to
us to decide whether this last statement should be interpreted as an admonition or a threat.
In either case, having people like Dr. Lefever charged with keeping "us" safe from "them," (while he
simultaneously acknowledges the slipperiness of these categories) is altogether too strong an argument for ours
being a "world of terror."
Activist Psychologists Keep up the Fight: Two New Articles from Dissident Psychologists
Continue to Probe the APA's Ties to the Military, and to Build the Case for Investigations
Continue to Probe the APA's Ties to the Military, and to Build the Case for Investigations
Despite President Obama's repeated calls to "move forward," his abrupt reversal in seeking to block the release of
important new photographic evidence of torture, and recent polls showing apparent deep divisions in the
investigations continues to build. Witness two recent articles calling for investigations and probing the history of
APA's collusion with the U.S. Military and its torture policies. The first is by psychologist and lawyer Dr. Bryant
Welch, writing in Huffington Post, who paints a longer-term portrait of profound changes within the APA during
the 1990's that paved the way for the current scandal. The second is by our own PEAPA Steering Committee
member Dr. Ghislaine Boulanger, who draws together some of the most recent documents and revelations to
continue to build and strengthen the case for investigations of the APA. Here are links to the two pieces:
Bryant Welch: "Torture, Psychology, and Daniel Inouye: The True Story Behind Psychology's Role in Torture"
Ghislaine Boulanger: "American Psychological Association Sees No Evil"
important new photographic evidence of torture, and recent polls showing apparent deep divisions in the
investigations continues to build. Witness two recent articles calling for investigations and probing the history of
APA's collusion with the U.S. Military and its torture policies. The first is by psychologist and lawyer Dr. Bryant
Welch, writing in Huffington Post, who paints a longer-term portrait of profound changes within the APA during
the 1990's that paved the way for the current scandal. The second is by our own PEAPA Steering Committee
member Dr. Ghislaine Boulanger, who draws together some of the most recent documents and revelations to
continue to build and strengthen the case for investigations of the APA. Here are links to the two pieces:
Bryant Welch: "Torture, Psychology, and Daniel Inouye: The True Story Behind Psychology's Role in Torture"
Ghislaine Boulanger: "American Psychological Association Sees No Evil"
Psychologists for an Ethical APA Steering Committee Issues Letter to APA Calling for Inquiry
and Accountability -- PsySR and PHR also call for Investigation of APA
and Accountability -- PsySR and PHR also call for Investigation of APA
On May 1, 2009, the Steering Committee of Psychologists for an Ethical APA (PEAPA) issued a letter to the
President of the APA, Dr. James Bray, and its CEO, Dr. Norman Anderson detailing a list of actions we wish the
APA to take in response to the torture and interrogation scandal. PEAPA's letter is among a growing number of
calls for investigations, inquiry, and accountability within the APA in the wake of the recent release of the
Yoo/Bybee Torture Memos. For instance, see the statement issued on April 23 by Psychologists for Social
Responsibility (PsySR), as well the call by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) for an investigation of APA and
its long-standing and close ties to the Pentagon.
For its part, the APA has thus far seemed content to focus on message control, issuing a statement from
President James Bray on April 22 entitled "Saying it Again: Psychologists May Never Participate in Torture."
Perhaps the APA hopes that if they "say it again" enough times that psychologists "may not" torture, then all of the
questions as to what psychologists actually did to enable torture, with APA's overt or covert blessing, can finally
be swept under the rug once and for all...
President of the APA, Dr. James Bray, and its CEO, Dr. Norman Anderson detailing a list of actions we wish the
APA to take in response to the torture and interrogation scandal. PEAPA's letter is among a growing number of
calls for investigations, inquiry, and accountability within the APA in the wake of the recent release of the
Yoo/Bybee Torture Memos. For instance, see the statement issued on April 23 by Psychologists for Social
Responsibility (PsySR), as well the call by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) for an investigation of APA and
its long-standing and close ties to the Pentagon.
For its part, the APA has thus far seemed content to focus on message control, issuing a statement from
President James Bray on April 22 entitled "Saying it Again: Psychologists May Never Participate in Torture."
Perhaps the APA hopes that if they "say it again" enough times that psychologists "may not" torture, then all of the
questions as to what psychologists actually did to enable torture, with APA's overt or covert blessing, can finally
be swept under the rug once and for all...