Gaslighting, betrayal and the boogeyman: Personal reflections on the American Psychological Association, PENS and the involvement of psychologists in torture

Abstract

The American Psychological Association's (APA's) sanctioning psychologists' involvement in “enhanced interrogations,” aka torture, authorized by the closely parsed re‐interpretation of relevant law by the Bush administration, has roiled the association since it appointed a task force in 2005. The Psychological Ethics and National Security (PENS) task force, its composition, methods and outcomes have brought public shame to the profession, the association and its members. Having served on the task force and been involved in the aftermath, I offer reflections on my role to provide an insider's look at the struggle I experienced over loyalty to principle, profession, colleagues, and the association. Situating what occurred in the course of the PENS process and its aftermath within the framework of Freyd's and her collaborators ‘theory of “betrayal trauma,” in particular “institutional trauma,” I suggest that others too share similar feelings of profound betrayal by an organization with which so many of us have been identified over the course of many years. I explore the ways in which attachments have been challenged and undermined by what occurred. Among the questions I have grappled with are: Was I the betrayed or betrayer, or both? How can similar self‐reflection usefully be undertaken both by the association itself and other members about their actions or inactions?

The Dr. John Hall story: a case study in putative “Haunted People Syndrome”

“…Secondly, group-stalking accounts often reference "gaslighting" (Hall, 2009(Hall, , 2014, which typically denotes the determined efforts of an influencer to cause an intended target to doubt his/her own experiences, or even sanity (Knight, 2006;Thomas, 2017). Sheridan and James (2015, Table 4, pp.…”

Psychological Contract: It’s Influence on Attrition in Manufacturing Sector

“…This might be a case of post-separation betrayal and a matter of psychological shock that affected her ability. Thomas in his article introduced a term "enhanced interrogation" [Thomas,(2017),pp.125] which reminds one of the incident mentioned above. This psychological shock may insist her on spreading a negative word-of-mouth about the organisation.…”

Breaking Institutional Habits: A Critical Paradigm for Social Change Agents in Psychology

“…For this reason, clever administrators see periodic consultation as a means of inducing employees to be more cooperative and to work harder” (p. 49). Anyone who has tried to change a large system is familiar with how calls for “respectful and reasonable dialogue” by those with more power often precede the rerouting of polite requests into committees that have no power or are overrun with institutional actors (see Thomas [2017] for a timely, proximal example). Of course, dialogue and education are no more obsolete than the idea of democracy is, but their efficacy depends on establishing “a basis for dialogue requiring that we actually appreciate the real concerns of the individual members” (Thomas [2017], p. 131).…”

“…Anyone who has tried to change a large system is familiar with how calls for “respectful and reasonable dialogue” by those with more power often precede the rerouting of polite requests into committees that have no power or are overrun with institutional actors (see Thomas [2017] for a timely, proximal example). Of course, dialogue and education are no more obsolete than the idea of democracy is, but their efficacy depends on establishing “a basis for dialogue requiring that we actually appreciate the real concerns of the individual members” (Thomas [2017], p. 131). The following recommendations assume that this basis has not been established, and until it is, social change agents will be working in arenas where information and sound reasoning are not privileged above the fray of unequally represented political–material interests.…”

“…Thomas’ (2017) experience on the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Psychological Ethics and National Security Task Force demonstrates both the duplicity of institutional channels and the potential efficacy of circumventing them. In the context of the so-called “war on terror” and psychologists’ involvement in “enhanced interrogation” (i.e., torture), Thomas was invited by the APA to serve on the Task Force to help “propose revisions to the Association’s Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct” (p. 126).…”