Psychology not responsible to any outsiders, says APA President
November 24th, 2009
At an American Psyuchological Association awards ceremony this summer, APA President James Bray gave the most succinct statement of what is wrong with the association’s ethics. In talking of award winner Patrick DeLeon, a clinical psychologist, lawyer, 2000 APA president and chief of staff to Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), Bray stated:
“Dr. DeLeon has shown us through his right actions and public service that we don’t need to focus on what other groups say about what psychology should or shouldn’t do,” said APA President James H. Bray, PhD. “We get to decide because we know what’s right for us.”
As one colleague who read this statement has commented:
The ultimate In-Group Credo. Here the APA has a meeting of the minds with religious fundamentalists. Amazing. Out with monitoring. Out with checks and balances. Out with democratic principles.
It should be remembered that DeLeon has been described as the critical connection between the APA and the military-intelligence establishment by former APA insider Bryant Welch, who claimed that DeLeon was behind the association’s collusion with the Bush regime torture and abusive interrogations. Given this background, President Bray’s endorsement of DeLeon’s attitude has an ominous ring indeed.
Entry Filed under: APA,Accountability,Guantanamo,Interrogation,Psychology,Torture