Paul Westerberg's old Replacements-era lyrics still come in handy.
Obviously there is a point to this brief post. Although I am only catching wind of this a week late, I wanted to make sure you all were aware that whatever anti-torture provisions APA had put in place in the wake of the torture scandal in which the organization played a role are in danger of being overturned by the current APA leadership. In the aftermath of the Hoffman Report, I expressed a good deal of skepticism about the APA's ability to get its act together and truly take ownership for its part in the human rights abuses committed by our government. In this case, maintaining a skeptical stance has served me well. I am saddened, actually. Back around 2007 and 2008, I included a statement on my Social Psychology Network profile urging anyone who happened to stumble upon it to boycott the APA (withholding dues is what we called it). I kept that statement in place until the campaign had run its course. It's a shame, but it appears that whatever measures necessary to fully rehabilitate itself were barely taken, and are now apparently likely to be ignored altogether. Psychology is a very multifaceted profession, and one of our missions is supposed to be to be a helping profession (broadly speaking). Taking part in any of those practices that are considered torture by the international community is the exact opposite of helping. Acting as if we need no safeguards to prevent fellow professionals from profiting from human suffering is no way to be a helping profession. I am now convinced that the APA is irreparably broken. We desperately need an umbrella organization that can represent not only scientific rigor, but also human well-being and dignity. The opportunity for the APA to be that organization has long since passed. I take no satisfaction in its continued fall from grace.
"I'm so, I'm so unsatisfied"
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