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Calls Within American Psychological Assoc. Againt Participation in Military Interrogations
Should doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists participate in military interrogations? Both the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association have adopted policies discouraging their members from being involved. But their counterpart, the American Psychological Association has not. We host a debate with APA president Dr. Gerald Koocher, Dr. Stephen Reisner, an APA member who is calling on the group to take a stand against the practice and Dr. Stephen Xenakis, a psychiatrist who is a retired Brigadier General in the Army Medical Corps.
Should doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists participate in military interrogations? That question has become a hot-button topic within the medical community in the United States.
After 9/11, the Pentagon began using so-called behavioral science consultants, or "biscuit" teams to help interrogators obtain information from prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere.
These teams reportedly advised the military on how to "break" detainees to make them more cooperative. The techniques they devised included sleep deprivation and playing on prisoners" fears to extract information.
Investigative journalist Jane Mayer of the New Yorker was one of the first to break this story. We interviewed her last year and she spoke about the interrogation methods used at Guantanamo Bay.
* Jane Mayer, New Yorker magazine, interviewed interviewed on Democracy Now!, July 11, 2005.
Last week, The New York Times reported that the Pentagon would try to use only psychologists, and not psychiatrists, to help in interrogations. Why? Because the American Psychiatric Association recently adopted a new policy discouraging its members from participating in military interrogations. As did the American Medical Association. But their counterpart, the American Psychological Association has not.
The assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, Dr. William Winkenwerder, told the Times that the new policy favoring the use of psychologists over psychiatrists was a recognition of the differing positions taken by their respective groups.
Today we host a debate on this issue.
* Dr. Gerald Koocher, president of the American Psychological Association. He is dean of the School for Health Studies at Simmons College in Boston.
* Dr. Steven Reisner, a psychoanalyst and a member of Division 39 of the American Psychological Association - the psychoanalysis division. He is a faculty member at NYU Medical School and at the International Trauma Studies Program at Columbia University.
* Dr. Stephen Xenakis, advisor to Physicians for Human Rights. He is a psychiatrist who retired from the Army in 1998 at the rank of Brigadier General. He is the former Commanding General of the Southeast Regional Army Medical Command.
LISTEN ONLINE:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/06/16/1355222
After 9/11, the Pentagon began using so-called behavioral science consultants, or "biscuit" teams to help interrogators obtain information from prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere.
These teams reportedly advised the military on how to "break" detainees to make them more cooperative. The techniques they devised included sleep deprivation and playing on prisoners" fears to extract information.
Investigative journalist Jane Mayer of the New Yorker was one of the first to break this story. We interviewed her last year and she spoke about the interrogation methods used at Guantanamo Bay.
* Jane Mayer, New Yorker magazine, interviewed interviewed on Democracy Now!, July 11, 2005.
Last week, The New York Times reported that the Pentagon would try to use only psychologists, and not psychiatrists, to help in interrogations. Why? Because the American Psychiatric Association recently adopted a new policy discouraging its members from participating in military interrogations. As did the American Medical Association. But their counterpart, the American Psychological Association has not.
The assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, Dr. William Winkenwerder, told the Times that the new policy favoring the use of psychologists over psychiatrists was a recognition of the differing positions taken by their respective groups.
Today we host a debate on this issue.
* Dr. Gerald Koocher, president of the American Psychological Association. He is dean of the School for Health Studies at Simmons College in Boston.
* Dr. Steven Reisner, a psychoanalyst and a member of Division 39 of the American Psychological Association - the psychoanalysis division. He is a faculty member at NYU Medical School and at the International Trauma Studies Program at Columbia University.
* Dr. Stephen Xenakis, advisor to Physicians for Human Rights. He is a psychiatrist who retired from the Army in 1998 at the rank of Brigadier General. He is the former Commanding General of the Southeast Regional Army Medical Command.
LISTEN ONLINE:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/06/16/1355222
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