QUIT Steering Committee BLOG

Here's another important revelation, that a recent President of the American Psychological Assn. had both covert CIA and torture connections. And he was far from an isolated connection.

WOW -- the shrinks have SO MUCH housecleaning to do! Hope the many Quakes who are in the field are on top of this unfolding scandal.

Chuck

Former American Psychological Association President had long time CIA connection

by Stephen Soldz

Nathaniel Raymond, of Physicians for Human Rights has posted a piece on the PHR blog discussing Jane Mayer's blockbuster revelation last weekend that former American Psychological Association [APA] President Joseph Matarazzo had a long relationship with the CIA, serving on its professional-standards board. This relationship antedated the creation of the agency's "enhanced interrogations" torture program.

This new information helps put in perspective the revelation in an NPR interview by Navy psychologist [and former APA ethics policy-maker] Bryce Lefever that Matarazzo had been recruiting SERE psychologists to "do their duty" to protect the country in the summer of 2001, before 911! The nature of the pre-911 activities for which Matarazzo was recruiting assistance are still secret. We also don't know what was involved in serving on the agency's professional-standards board.

Suspicions of Matarazzo's CIA connection are not new. It was reported in 2007 that Matarazzo was on the board of Mitchell Jessen & Associates, the consulting firm owned by former SERE psychologists that designed and implemented the CIA torture program, for $1,000 a day, plus expenses. . . .

Lots more to this post; don't miss it.