As president of the largest association of American psychologists, I and my fellow members are outraged, saddened and pained that two psychologists allegedly devised and engaged in brutal interrogation methods. They inappropriately and with disastrous effect tried to apply a classic model of learned helplessness to torture detainees.
Regardless of whether it is an effective interrogation technique, torture is unethical, abhorrent and morally reprehensible. That two psychologists and their company allegedly received $81 million from this perversion of psychological science is shocking, and another reason psychologists as a group are horrified.
The two psychologists identified in the Senate committee report are not members of the American Psychological Association and are therefore beyond the range of our ethics enforcement program. But regardless of their membership status, if the allegations are true, they should be held accountable for inexcusable violations of ethical principles and legal standards.
There is no place in the field of psychology for people who are not respectful of human dignity and committed to human rights.
Nadine J. Kaslow, PhD
The writer is the 2014 president of the American Psychological Association.