Brad Olson - Insularity, Injustice, and the Necessity of Interdisciplinarity

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• published: 28 Oct 2015
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Video footage of the keynote address to the 2015 Community Action in the West (CRA-W) Regional Conference at the University of Washington Bothell. INSULARITY, INJUSTICE, AND THE NECESSITY OF INTER-DISCIPLINARITY TO SOCIALLY JUST "DISCIPLINES": THE CASE OF THE APA, INTERROGATIONS, TORTURE, AND THE HOFFMAN REPORT Brad Olson, Ph.D. National Louis University For over 10 years the American Psychological Association (APA), the world's largest collection of psychologists, found itself caught in a battle around psychological ethics and the direction of the field itself. The APA's PENS report endorsed the role of psychologists engaging in "national security" interrogations at a time when reports of abuse at these settings (and by psychologists) were showing up in the media. After 10 years of internal criticism by psychologists and others, and an eventual New York Times report pointing to collusion, the APA hired an external investigator, David Hoffman, to objectively examine the claims. The Hoffman report, released this year, concluded that key staff members of the APA and the DoD colluded to loosen the APA code of ethics in the service of the "global war on terror;" thus ultimately allowing psychologists to use their skills to harm others. This talk will describe events with particular attention to a community psychology (and interdisciplinary) critique of APA actions and ways in which Psychology has been "misdirected" (Sarason, 1981). Specifically, what aspects of APA's/Psychology's mission and organizational culture contributed to some of these tragic outcomes? How might insularity and selective interdisciplinarity lead to deep conflicts of interest? What are the ways in which a stronger future embrace of ethics, interdisciplinarity, and ecological thinking can play more protective roles for individuals, society, science, and practice? Dr. Olson is a community psychologist and Associate Professor at National Louis University in Chicago who has been involved in the struggle within Psychology and the American Psychological Association (APA) around torture/interrogation for over 10 years. Brad is a co-founder of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology, and has been president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility, the Peace Psychology division of the APA, and the chair of Divisions for Social Justice (a collection of 12 divisions of the APA). His research and scholarly work is on the connections among psychology, the social sciences, ethics, and human rights, and he and others do evaluation and consultation work with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity International.