I do not know about the United States. However perhaps one could point out that the European Convention on Human Rights has been incorporated into United Kingdom law and psychologists working with the miltary could be subject to ethical sanction if they contravened this Convention. In addition, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whilst not enshrined in law, has international force. If a psychologist of any nation - I am not referring specifically to the United States - breaches this convention two things follow. Firstly, psycholgists of other nations should not deal with such unethical psychologists, and should wher possible act against them using International Law. Secondly, psychological organisations in other countries, and international organisations representing psychologists, should act to bring pressure on the national psychological organisation of a country which fails to act against its members who contravene international law. The political abuse of
psychiatry in the former Soviet Union is a case in point.
Mark Burton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Full story at: http://www.counterpunch.org/soldz09062006.html
Excerpt:
Ethics Code Exempts Government and Military Employees: Endorsing the Nuremberg Defense
"Psychologists strive to benefit those with whom they work and take care to do no harm."
-- American Psychological Association Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct
One questionable action concerns the Association ethics code that governs members' professional behavior, which was changed in 2002 so as to exempt psychologists working for the government (including the military) from being bound by the Association code. Thus, the 1992 code had a somewhat ambiguous clause:
"1.02 Relationship of Ethics and Law.
"If psychologists' ethical responsibilities conflict with law, psychologists make known their commitment to the Ethics Code and take steps to resolve the conflict in a responsible manner."
In 2002 this clause was changed to read:
"1.02 Conflicts Between Ethics and Law, Regulations, or Other Governing Legal Authority
"If psychologists' ethical responsibilities conflict with law, regulations, or other governing legal authority, psychologists make known their commitment to the Ethics Code and take steps to resolve the conflict. If the conflict is unresolvable via such means, psychologists may adhere to the requirements of the law, regulations, or other governing legal authority."
Note that the new wording explicitly exempts psychologists aiding torture or abuse under military or government orders from being charged with ethics violations as long as they can claim they took steps to resolve the conflict. By this change the Association in 2002 would have implicitly endorsed the defense of Lieutenant William Calley (convicted for ordering the My Lai massacre), Adolf Eichmann and other Nazi war criminals, and many others who claimed they were simply following orders, a defense that was rejected by the United States and the world through the Nuremberg and other war crimes trials.
In addition to directly incorporating the Nuremberg Defense into the ethics code, this change also has other harmful effects. By weakening the prohibition against acting in conflict with the ethics code, the Association significantly weakened the standing of any military psychologists desiring to refuse an immoral order or to refuse orders that violate international law. They could no longer call upon the ethics code as requiring refusal. While military personnel are allowed to refuse illegal or immoral orders, they do so at profound risk to themselves. In the case of military psychologists contemplating refusal of orders, the Association has increased this risk tremendously.
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