I revise my complaint concerning the process by which the ethical guidelines changes occurred which implied that they were not properly vetted. It appears that there was a proper process. Whether that process envisioned a situation such as it being used to justify participation in otherwise illegal behavior is a different question.
I believe that the change in ethics rules was terribly unfortunate. When one effectively makes this the ethical standard: ‘These are our rules unless it’s really really hard to follow them because your boss or a government authority asks you to break them,’ what has been said is those are not really rules. Maybe I’m naive and all similar professional ethical standards operate the same way, that my imagining of pastoral confidentiality, as an example, cannot be broken by an order by a superior or subpoena. Paul C Bernhardt Associate Professor of Psychology Frostburg State University pcbernhardt☞frostburg.edu<http://frostburg.edu> On Jul 12, 2015, at 9:52 AM, Rick Froman <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: It seems that, even with all the revelations, there is at least one point that isn't clear to me. Paul notes below that, in his reading of the full report, "the APA changed their ethics standards in a way that made it easier for members to participate in torture." The APA press release on the report says: "Additionally, the report confirmed that the organization’s 2002 change in its Code of Ethics was not the product of collusion. Mr. Hoffman “did not see evidence” that the revisions “were a response to, motivated by, or in any way linked to the attacks of September 11th or the subsequent war on terror. Nor did we see evidence that they were the product of collusion with the government to support torture.” As the organization has repeatedly stated, the ethics code was revised to provide a defense for psychologists when their ethical obligations on client confidentiality conflicted with court-ordered directive ordering disclose of confidential patient information." So, what is the case? Maybe APA happened to change their ethics guidelines for one reason (without collusion or other motivation) and it was subsequently used to justify behavior not contemplated in the revision? Or is there something in the report that is being misrepresented by the APA press release? Rick Dr. Rick Froman Professor of Psychology John Brown University Siloam Springs, AR 72761 [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> ________________________________ From: Paul C Bernhardt <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Saturday, July 11, 2015 10:05 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] Release of the Final Report of the Special Investigator From my reading of the report, the APA changed their ethics standards in a way that made it easier for members to participate in torture. Within the constraints of the APA’s abilities, they relaxed the one control they had: violation of ethics standards can mean sanction or expulsion from the APA, which is a stain on a Clinical Psychologist’s record and may be useful in a state board’s decision on a license review. Furthermore, state boards may use the ethics standards of the APA for decisions on license review. Bottom line, the APA made it much easier for anyone, particularly Clinical Psychologists, to participate in torture. Because the APA changed the ethics standards, even those not directly involved or knowledgable of the reasons are responsible. That pretty much means the entire leadership, arguably the entire organization, has responsibility. The reason I say this: when something as important at the ethics standards are revised, all eyes should be on the revision, questions should be asked, rationale deconstructed, motives interrogated, etc. I will give credit to the APA for not trying to sweep this report under the rug. Prominent placement and owning up to it is good. Too bad that didn’t happen (apparently) back during the ethical standards changes. Paul Paul C Bernhardt Associate Professor of Psychology Frostburg State University pcbernhardt☞frostburg.edu<http://frostburg.edu/> --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=1989792.4335dcd8aae84aca9a8bb2e89f646286&n=T&l=tips&o=45866 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-45866-1989792.4335dcd8aae84aca9a8bb2e89f646...@fsulist.frostburg.edu<mailto:leave-45866-1989792.4335dcd8aae84aca9a8bb2e89f646...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=45868 or send a blank email to leave-45868-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
