Multiple reports of wrongdoing emerged, such as one from the International Committee of the Red Cross describing psychological coercion techniques at Guantanamo Bay as "tantamount to torture." APA members and others responded with outrage and clamor.
It was immediately clear that the world's largest psychological association needed to engage in a careful and transparent examination of whether professional ethics allow psychologists to serve in aggressive operational roles, such as detention and interrogation activities involving national security detainees. Tragically, however, APA's leadership decided to take a very different path. They chose to rubberstamp the status quo without any meaningful deliberation whatsoever.
More specifically, in mid-2005, the APA brought together a task force for a weekend meeting. It was dominated by representatives from the military-intelligence establishment, including several individuals who served in the chains of command publicly accused of detainee abuses. In short order, this Presidential Task Force on Psychological Ethics and National Security (PENS) issued the PENS Report, which asserted that psychologists may indeed, "serve in various national security-related roles, such as a consultant to an interrogation."
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