More recently, Susan Brandon -- a former APA Senior Scientist who brought together psychologists and "operational personnel" from the intelligence community and later served as Assistant Director for Social, Behavioral and Educational Sciences for the Bush White House -- landed at CIFA and after the reorganization at DCHC. Brandon was one of the silent observers at the PENS taskforce described by dissident taskforce member Jean Maria Arrigo as exerting pressure on members to adopt a likely pre-approved policy in favor of participation in Guantà ¡namo, CIA, and other interrogations. Throughout her career, including her time at CIFA/DCHC, Brandon worked on "deception detection" and other matters relevant to interrogations.
Thus, personal ties as well as a general desire to curry favor with the military-intelligence establishment likely influence APA support for CIFA and counterintelligence efforts within DIA -- that is, for DCHC. While these agencies employ a number of psychologists -- CIFA reportedly employed 20 psychologists when Shumate was director of behavioral sciences there -- the numbers of psychologists potentially affected by budget cuts alone cannot explain APA support over the years.
Given this history of APA's leadership turning a blind eye to reports of psychologist involvement in abuses, we shouldn't hold our breath expecting the APA to change its position on DIA/DCHC funding now that the Defense Department admits that DCHC runs a detention facility using techniques like sleep deprivation that the APA itself has proclaimed unethical and amounting to either torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. After all, for the APA leadership in recent years, professional opportunities for psychology have always trumped professional ethics, at least in the national security sector.
Psychology as a profession is at a crossroads. As the connections discussed here illustrate, the profession has long-standing ties to the military-intelligence establishment that, outside of the awareness of many members, permeate much of its public policy making. While it is, perhaps, too much to expect that these relations will totally end, they must become more transparent and subject to public discussion and debate. A first step would be for APA leaders to express concerns and call for an independent investigation of the possibility that psychologists are studying or otherwise aiding abuses at the "black jail." That, alas, is a simple step that is extremely unlikely from the profession's current leadership.
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