Reisner loses American Psychological Association Presidential bid
December 10th, 2008
I’ve been too upset to post this news previously. But our candidate, Steven Reisner, was defeated in his bid for the American Psychological Association (APA) Presidency. Rather, the candidate of the status-quo, APA Treasurer Carol Goodheart, won. The APA announcement, designed to magnify the extent of Dr. Goodheart’s victory, is available here. The vote counts presented there are virtually meaningless as they represent the number of votes received at the point that candidate was removed in the complex multistage, Hare-system, vote counting process.
With Reisner’s defeat, the APA has managed for the time being to preserve its status quo position as an unofficial member of the military-intelligence establishment, committed to perverting psychology in the interests of so-called “national security.” If things go well nationally, those interests will soon cease to include legalized torture. Thus, the APA will cease to covertly support psychologists’ participation in detainee abuse through its “policy of engagement.”
Notwithstanding Reisner’s defeat, now is the time for a thoroughgoing review of our profession’s, and the APA’s, sordid recent history.
The failure to transform the organization to make its relationships with the military-intelligence establishment transparent, and to really come to grips with the implications of psychologists playing central roles in US government abuse, will ill-equip the profession to resist the next time “national security” calls. The struggle must continue to transform the Association and the profession so that human rights and human decency are central to our work.
Entry Filed under: APA, Accountability, Bush administration, Interrogation, Law, Psychology, Torture, Uncategorized