American Psychological Association Issues Guidelines for Interrogators
Jul 11th, 2005 • Posted in: NewsWASHINGTON
The American Psychological Association (APA), responding to recent accounts that some members have assisted with coercive interrogations at the Guantánamo Bay detention center, last week released a report attempting to clarify ethical boundaries for mental health officials.
The report recognizes a legitimate role for psychologists in acting as consultants to interrogators but warns against using their knowledge “to the detriment and safety of an individual’s well-being,” reported the New York Times.
Psychologists involved in questioning detainees should be “mindful of factors unique to these roles and contexts that require special ethical consideration,” the APA said.
The APA report prohibits psychologists from utilizing torture or other inhumane methods to obtain intelligence from the detainees.
According to the testimony of former interrogators, some mental health professionals, who may have been psychologists or psychiatrists, helped “break” prisoners by increasing stress levels, using such tactics as capitalizing on their fear of darkness or desire to see their mothers.
Leonard Rubenstein, executive director of Physicians for Human Rights, criticized the new APA report for failing to unambiguously outline appropriate behavior for mental health professionals.
“In view of what has happened at places like Guantánamo, we need clarity, and what’s lacking here is an explicit commitment not to participate in coercive interrogations,” Rubenstein told the Times.
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