Editor
The Washington Post
1150 15th Street NW
Washington, DC 20071
Dear Editor:
An Aug. 17 column, “Psychology and securityopens in new window,” highlights the challenges that the American Psychological Association (APA) has faced in developing policy related to the roles of psychologists in national security. At our recent annual convention, APA’s governing body voted overwhelmingly to prohibit psychologists from participating in national security interrogations involving military and intelligence authorities.
This policy is consistent with that of the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association, although it allows psychologists to participate in domestic law enforcement interrogations.
Other vital national security roles for psychologists are recognized or implicitly allowed, such as helping to guide military policy to ensure humane interrogations and developing interventions to counter violent extremism.
This policy also calls upon APA to continue to promote the ethical practice of psychologists in military and national security settings. But, to strengthen this effort, APA will be forming a blue-ribbon panel to evaluate and recommend changes to further enhance our ethics processes.
On behalf of APA, we recently issued a statement to acknowledge and commend the many psychologists who have dedicated their careers to ethical practice in serving our military personnel and protecting our nation.
Nadine J. Kaslow, PhD
Past President
Susan H. McDaniel, PhD
President Elect