Tim, thanks for your well reasoned response to which I think most of us would agree. My concerns come from Zimbardo's admission that, when he conducted his prison experiment, he became so enmeshed that he needed an outsider to help him "regain" perspective and stop his experiment. And this was only after fairly serious abuses had already occurred. I would highly recommend his book, "The Lucifer Effect." His thorough analysis of his own experiment as well as analogous situations convinces me that psychologists should simply "Say No!" when asked to assist with interrogations. Most of us assume/hope that we have an internal compass that would keep us on track in ethically compromising situations but possibly not as much as we would all like to think.
If the marines or Pentagon asked psychologists to act in an oversight capacity, that would be quite different. But the issue is far more insidious if you ask professionals to become active participants in a ethically compromising situations. Joan [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Joan- Thanks for brining that up. This is surely a divisive issue within > the discipline right now and is thus a great discussion topic- especially > so, I think, in any class that includes ethics and professional issues in > general. There are, of course, numerous sources for readings but I > strongly suspect there will be quite a few more in the time following the > convention and any decisions that come from that. > > I admit that I'm strongly conflicted on the ultimate answer to this > question. I have no qualms whatsoever that psychologists shouldn't be > involved in or designing "optimal" or creative torture senarios! Any such > behavior would seem to be abhorrent and against everything I'd want > psychology associated with. On the other hand, to forbid psychologists any > role whatsoever would seem to me to remove one more linchpin of decency > and oversight from the system (which I admit seems horribly broken in its > current state- clearly this oversight has been more over than sight!). > I'll admit that my emotional response to what we know has happened is > toward the no involvement what-so-ever side of the debate. I just wonder > if ultimately we can't do more good by participating and advocating for > rights and responsible interrogation and treatment of detainees/prisoners. > Tim > _______________________________ > Timothy O. Shearon, PhD > Professor and Chair Department of Psychology > The College of Idaho > Caldwell, ID 83605 > email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > teaching: intro to neuropsychology; psychopharmacology; general; history > and systems > > "You can't teach an old dogma new tricks." Dorothy Parker > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Joan Warmbold [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Sat 8/16/2008 12:38 PM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: [tips] Article in NYT's about psychologists involvement with > interogations > > > http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/16/washington/16psych.html?em > > Curious if any one on this listserv was involved in any of the discussions > on this issue at the most recent APA convention. > > Joan > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
