Monstrosity V
Compounding the damage already done to the ethical landscape of professional psychology, a fifth monstrosity is now being stitched together within the APA. Advance publicity for this creation bills it as a single comprehensive document that will reconcile all APA policies related to national security. Purporting to replace the "outdated" PENS Report, this initiative will actually further institutionalize the disturbing view that psychologists can ethically participate in national security operations that harm, exploit, deceive, and coerce -- as long as their actions are not deemed torturous, cruel, inhuman, or degrading. Following in the footsteps of its predecessors, this creation will obstruct the urgent need to engage diverse stakeholders in a broad, independent, and transparent discussion of psychological ethics and national security.
Operational psychologists' adverse impact on the immediate targets of their interventions; the absence of voluntary informed consent from these individuals; and the lack of oversight from outside organizations -- these are issues of profound ethical consequence for the profession. But if successful, the APA's latest ploy, disguised as a "member-initiated task force," will submerge these concerns and suffocate attempts to re-establish these basic ethical foundations. All the while, further inroads will be made by those seeking to make operational psychology an increasingly influential and uncontested voice in redefining the principles of psychological ethics.
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I had begun life with benevolent intentions, and thirsted for the moment when I should put them in practice, and make myself useful to my fellow-beings. Now all was blasted: instead of that serenity of conscience, which allowed me to look back upon the past with self satisfaction, and from thence to gather promise of new hopes, I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense tortures, such as no language can describe. (Frankenstein, Chapter 9)
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What Next?
Psychological ethics are matters of profound consequence. They exist to ensure that our specialized skills and knowledge are not used in ways that violate the profession's core principles, its commitment to human welfare, and the public trust upon which we depend. They also serve to bind us together as a community engaged in shared work, while providing moral guidance and collective support for the individual psychologist confronted with difficult decisions or unreasonable demands. Ultimately, psychologists cannot be effective healers, researchers, or teachers without an ethics code that commands respect and accountability.
The fictional Dr. Frankenstein abandoned his profession's ethical principles. But he grew horrified and remorseful over the choices he had made, and he took steps to curtail the damage for which he was responsible. Thus far APA leaders have followed a very different path. They seem largely oblivious to or untroubled by the harm that their own monstrosities have caused -- to targeted victims and to the profession alike. Indeed, their laboratory remains intact and there may be yet another creature stirring on the table. This is deeply regrettable.
The betrayal of psychological ethics by the world's largest organization of psychologists will not make the world safer -- and it certainly will not help dedicated psychologists in their efforts to address the many societal ills that beset us. The question that APA members and others must now urgently ask and answer is this: "How did we ever let loose these hideous monstrosities, and how can we prevent it from happening again?"
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Note. Many psychologists and other concerned organizations and individuals -- including human rights advocates, health professionals, attorneys, military-intelligence professionals, and ethicists -- are working to illuminate these disturbing issues and to press for change. The Coalition for an Ethical Psychology is one of these groups, and more information about the Coalition is available at www.ethicalpsychology.org. Interested readers are encouraged to sign the Coalition's online petition calling for annulment of the APA's PENS Report at www.ethicalpsychology.org/pens.
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