Continued from home page...
This referendum, the first time in the history of the American
Psychological Association that a vote was brought directly to
the membership rather than being debated by the Council of
Representatives, was written by a group of psychologists,
Psychologists for an Ethical APA, who came together on the
Withholddues listserv.
On October 3, 2008, then APA President Alan Kazdin wrote to
the White House informing the President of this "significant
change in our association's policy." However, it remains to be
seen whether and how the American Psychological Association
intends to put this new policy into practice.
In addition to requesting the complete implementation of this
referendum against torture, and in light of the April 2009
release of the four Office of Legal Counsel memos detailing the
participation of psychologists in the interrogation and torture of
U.S. detainees, Psychologists for an Ethical APA have asked
the American Psychological Association to take the following
actions:
- Modification of Code 1.02 so that no resolution of a
conflict between ethics and law or a governing legal
authority may compromise ethical standards.
- Rescind the PENS Task Force report and its associated
policies.
- On behalf of the APA call for an independent
investigation of psychologists and psychological
organizations involved and indirectly complicit in activities
that culminated in the treatment of detainees that is now
known to have been torture.
- Require the resignation of any APA official and/or staff
member who either facilitated or consistently denied the
involvement of psychologists in the abuse or torture of
detainees.
If you are interested in learning more about these issues, go to
the following website: EthicalAPA.com.
If you would like to join the withholddues listserv, it is no longer
necessary to withholddues, the listserv is open to all
psychologists, whether they are members of the APA or not,
who are concerned about the American Psychological
Association’s stance on ethical and human rights violations.
It provides a venue in which psychologist activists and those
who support them may exchange up-to-date information on
local, state, and national protests against APA policies. In
addition, listserv members provide each other with a steady
supply of resources -- documentaries, journal articles,
magazine articles, blogs etc. Those joining the listserv may post
and ask questions freely. Once again, the link to join the
website is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/withholdapadues/