On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:34:08 -0700, Jim Clark wrote: >Hi > >I found the following somewhat ironic given there were legal opinions >(presumably from lawyers) that the practices were in fact legal. I doubt >very much that the problem of policing members of professions is unique >to psychology.
Turley has spoken about the legal opinions generated within the U.S. White House as (paraphrasing) laughable and/or crap. I think that the main problem here is how does one demonstrate that such legal opinions are, in fact, crap. Get a "second opinion"? Well, we have Turley's. But obviously that is insufficient. A real test would be for the U.S. Attorney General to indict and prosecute all of those involved in promoting the use of torture (going as high in the administration as is necessary). The courts would have to work this out. However, it has been noted that the Obama administration is not interested in prosecuting these individuals (though the reasoning is not clear; political considerations are probably paramount). So, being morally right is not as important as being in a position of power, of such enduring power that one has no fear of being prosecuted for the crimes that one has commited. Might, apparently, does make right. Is this the lesson we should be conveying to students? Or do they already know this? -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu >>> "Linda M. Woolf, Ph.D." <wool...@webster.edu> 12-Aug-09 11:04 AM >>> Dear Colleagues, ... At the APA convention, Jonathan Turley (Shapiro Chair for Public Interest Law, The George Washington University Law School) gave the /Lynn Stuart Weiss Psychology as a Means of Attaining Peace Through World Law Lecture/. In his presentation, he commented about the methods by which the law profession polices its own and how psychology fails to adequately address those within the profession who behave in ways that are unethical, illegal, etc. At lunch, we further discussed this issue and we explained to Jonathan the divide in psychology whereby some in the profession require a license and some do not. We also discussed that membership in organizations such as APA is entirely voluntary and that the Ethics Code for those without state licensing requirements is not enforceable. --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
