9/19/11
SLU Hosts Talk By Expert On Psychology Of Torture
CANTON - Stephen Soldz, past-president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility, will give a talk called "Healers or Tormenters? Psychologists, Torture and the National Security State" on Wednesday, September 28, at 4:30 p.m. in Room 10 of Carnegie Hall at St. Lawrence University. The event is open to the public, free of charge.
After 9/11, the United States government embarked upon a program of "enhanced interrogation" that met the traditional legal standard of "torture." Psychologists were central to development of the program, designing, implementing and researching the interrogation techniques while providing a legal shield against future prosecutions or actions for violating professional ethics. The American Psychological Association, the world's largest mental health organization, provided ethical cover for the program through a series of actions seemingly condemning "torture" while allowing their members to participate in problematic government interrogation and detention activities. A movement arose among psychologists to oppose this collusion of their professional association and Soldz was among its leaders.
He is a professor and director of the Center for Research, Evaluation and Program Development at the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis, and is a practicing counselor and psychoanalyst. Soldz's work on torture has been featured on CNN, Democracy Now and NPR.
