Report finds psychologists and APA colluded with CIA and DOD

Report finds psychologists and APA colluded with CIA and DOD
Report finds psychologists and APA colluded with CIA and DOD

Report finds psychologists and APA colluded with CIA and DOD

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.
A 542 page report examining the involvement of psychologists in the Bush administration’s interrogation programs (which included the use of torture) and their professional organization, the American Psychological Association, found that senior staff of the organization colluded with the CIA and the Pentagon and that psychologists were complicit and helped provide justification for the use of torture. The report found, among other things, that the APA “prioritized the protection of psychologists — even those who might have engaged in unethical behavior — above the protection of the public.” The report raises many questions about the collaboration between the APA psychologists and the CIA and the Pentagon. The investigation was conducted at the request of the APA. Since the findings were published, the APA has announced several policy changes it plans to take in response and its current chief executive has also retired. Steven Reisner, a psychologist and founding member of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology and member of the APA Council of Representatives joins us to discuss the investigation. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)