Psychologists in America have confirmed what most of the world already knows – mock executions, water-boarding, sexual humiliation, rape, the use of dogs to threaten or intimidate, and physical assault are wrong. But the American Psychological Association has refused to ban its members from being involved in these activities.

The APA issued an “unequivocal condemnation” of torture at a convention this weekend but shied away from banning its members from working in prisons such as Guantanamo Bay where the Geneva Convention is not upheld. As the San Francisco Chronicle puts it succinctly in its headline: ‘Psychologists oppose torture yet vote to attend terror interrogations’. A faction of the association had been pushing for a full ban on members’ involvement in torture (the Chronicle did a good piece looking at the issue before the decision was taken).

Having psychologists at such sites helps guarantee the well-being of detainees, army colonel Larry James, chief military psychologist at Guantanamo Bay in 2003. “If we removed psychologists from these facilities, people are going to die,” he told the convention. Laurie Wagner, a psychologist from Dallas, disagrees: “If psychologists have to be there so detainees don’t get killed, those conditions are so horrendous that the only moral and ethical thing is to leave.” (AP)

The association’s move has drawn mixed reactions with some papers highlighting the fact they have ruled out specific torture methods (Boston Globe headline) and others that they have “spurned” a full ban (Miami Herald headline). The Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required) notes that critics have previously pointed out the APA rules are “much less stringent than the policies adopted by other professional groups, notably the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association”.

If you wish to make up your mind you can read the motion as it passed.

UPDATE – 21/07/07

Salon have done a good piece on this subject, noting that “Since doctors and psychiatrists have ruled themselves out as professional groups, that leaves the psychologists to do the work. And some of them worry that the APA’s latest position will still allow the abuse of detainees psychologically, so long as the pain doesn’t last too long.” Their list of related stories also nicely charts the issue’s development.