Doing Harm

Roy J. Eidelson is a member of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology and the past president of the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence, a division of the American Psychological Association.

• Acknowledgments ixAuthor's Note xiIntroduction 31 Embracing the "War on Terror" 102 The Perversion of a Profession 313 The Pretense of Deliberation 514 Revelations and Resistance 725 The Reckoning 1006 The Empire Strikes Back 1177 Operational Psychology: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 1398 Lessons Learned and the Road Ahead 153Notes 175Recommended Resources for Further Study 245Index 249

"In Doing Harm Roy Eidelson exposes a dark chapter in the history of American psychology. Some practitioners' complicity with government authorities in abetting torture violated the highest ethical standards. The story must be told if it is not to be repeated." - Brigadier General (Ret.) Stephen N. Xenakis "The APA's collusion with the Bush administration's torture program was unique among medical associations. Eidelson and a group of colleagues, tellingly called 'the dissidents,' fought to end psychologists' involvement and forced the APA to clean house. Doing Harm shows why, despite their tireless advocacy, key lessons have yet to be learned." - Lisa Hajjar, author of The War in Court "Roy Eidelson's searing and important book deserves a wide readership. It tells a sordid chapter in the APA's history, offering a cautionary tale about how professional organizations can stray to the 'dark side' in a climate of fear and conformity." - Eyal Press, author of Dirty Work "The post-9/11 torture program was sustained by a web of enablers that wrapped brutality in a veneer of legitimacy. Doing Harm chronicles the courageous campaign to disrupt that web, providing vital insights for all who hope to root out systemic injustice." - Elisa Massimino, former President and CEO, Human Rights First "Doing Harm lifts the cloak of invisibility on the opportunists and profiteers who have survived, evaded, resisted, and escaped accountability for the US government's post-9/11 torture program. Roy Eidelson refused to learn helplessness, exposing the calibration of cruelty within black sites, dark prisons, and the Guantanamo Battle Lab." - Mark Fallon, author of Unjustifiable Means "Doing Harm shows how a toxic mix of intrigue, questionable decisions, and a 'just following orders' mentality created a crisis still not fully resolved. A monumentally important work, it should be required reading in all psychology programs." - Kenneth S. Pope, recipient of APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to Public Service "Eidelson provides a comprehensive and highly readable background story to APA's accommodative stance toward the priorities of the Department of Defense and the CIA at a time when both agencies were clearly reconciled to indefinitely detaining and abusing – and often torturing – hundreds of detainees. … Doing Harm is essential reading. It is a detailed exploration of how the powerful make monsters behind the scenes of hollow performances of slick benevolence. And, in this regard, the APA isn't just the American Psychological Association. It's an ominous synecdoche of the uncannily glitching duality of the United States itself." - Counterpunch "While Doing Harm is a deeply troubling case study of how a profession can, in the pursuit of power and influence, come to betray its own principles, ethics, purpose, and indeed the very people it is supposed to serve, it is also an inspiring one in that it shows how even a handful of professionals of conscience can work to bring truth to light." - The Winnipeg Free Press "An excellent read for all involved in psychology as a discipline. Highly recommended." - Choice