An evening with Ashima
"We no longer sit around as victims of the Kashmir conflict, we shall stop it”
An inspirational evening with an experienced peace worker in Kashmir. on 06 April at 18:00.
Ashima Kaur works for Athwaas, an organisation which aims to create safe and secure spaces for women to come together in order to make the shift from being victims to possible changemakers in Kashmir.
We will hear further about Ashima’s work and have a conversation with her about how her work links to our situation here in the UK.
Athwaas explains their work:
Since November 2007, we have set up 6 new Samanbals. (Samanbal is a Kashmiri word, meaning ‘a meeting place’) Athwaas came up with the idea to create safe and secure spaces for women to come together and share, articulate and express themselves so as to make the shift from being victims to possible changemakers. These new Samanbals are still in their initial stage of formation i.e. they are still establishing a permanent meeting place. The Samanbals are diverse; we have widows in Dardpora, teachers in Badgam, young women in Bijbehar, migrant group (IDPs) Purkha and Muthee small scale traders in Leh. Each Samanbal works towards group formation and strengthen/capacity building. They choose an activity, which often is income generating due to the high poverty levels in the region. They also pursue a common advocacy strategy.
In Purkha migrant camp 20 women who have been displaced from different villages in the valley came together to form a Samanbal. The camp is made up of displaced Kashmir Pandits. The Samanbal provides a context for the women to share a common space for reflection and listening. They taken up tailoring so as to step beyond the cramped conditions of the camp dominated by hate, revenge and chest thumping. The basic principle in the Samanbal is to share information/experience, start the healing process, and acquire financial independence. They are then empowered to tackle the big issues affecting the region, the conflict in Kashmir.
Includes Kashmiri refreashments.
This event is organised jointly by Conflict and Change, Peace Direct and Muslim Mediation Service.
If you would like more information please contact:
Hanin on 020 8552 2050 at Conflict and Change
Sara/ Halima on 020 8432 2805 at Muslim Mediation Service
To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=507254609&k=54155Y5XP6VM511BUB5UP4
Showing posts with label Current Affairs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Current Affairs. Show all posts
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Vacancy – Volunteer Director At The Muslim Mediation Service
Vacancy – Volunteer Director At The Muslim Mediation Service
Do you have the expertise to lead and wish to give back to the community? Or do you want to develop your management skills and build upon your CV? Becoming the first Director of the Muslim Mediation Service may be the opportunity you were looking for! For our East London office, we are looking to recruit a Director in a voluntary capacity who can give a minimum of four hours a week during the day to oversee the general management of our staff and service.
The Board of Trustees are offering you an exciting and unique opportunity to take command of this national charity at a pivotal moment in its growth. Muslim Mediation Service is embarking upon a period of rapid development in which it will considerably broaden in the direct support services it offers to Muslims across the UK.
For a full job description and service information, or further information please contact Sana Saleem:
E-mail: sana@muslimmediation.org.uk
Telephone: 020 8432 2805
Post: Muslim Mediaton Service, 2a Streatfield Avenue, East Ham, London E6 2LA
To apply, please submit a CV, and supporting statement/cover letter stating why you are applying and why you are the most suitable person for the post, addressed to Sana Saleem at the above postal or email address.
Closing Date: Monday 21st July 2008
Do you have the expertise to lead and wish to give back to the community? Or do you want to develop your management skills and build upon your CV? Becoming the first Director of the Muslim Mediation Service may be the opportunity you were looking for! For our East London office, we are looking to recruit a Director in a voluntary capacity who can give a minimum of four hours a week during the day to oversee the general management of our staff and service.
The Board of Trustees are offering you an exciting and unique opportunity to take command of this national charity at a pivotal moment in its growth. Muslim Mediation Service is embarking upon a period of rapid development in which it will considerably broaden in the direct support services it offers to Muslims across the UK.
For a full job description and service information, or further information please contact Sana Saleem:
E-mail: sana@muslimmediation.org.uk
Telephone: 020 8432 2805
Post: Muslim Mediaton Service, 2a Streatfield Avenue, East Ham, London E6 2LA
To apply, please submit a CV, and supporting statement/cover letter stating why you are applying and why you are the most suitable person for the post, addressed to Sana Saleem at the above postal or email address.
Closing Date: Monday 21st July 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Ethnic clothes mental health link
Interesting article... wounder how true it really is.... post your view
Ethnic clothes mental health link
Teenage girls from some minority communities who stick to their family customs have better mental health, researchers say.
Queen Mary University of London found Bangladeshi girls who chose traditional rather than Western dress had fewer behavioural and emotional problems.
The team said close-knit families and communities could help protect them.
Pressure to integrate fully could be stressful, the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health reported.
Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to mental health problems, and the researchers said that identity, often bound up in friendship choices or clothing, played a role.
They questioned a total of 1,000 white British and Bangladeshi 11 to 14-year-olds about their culture, social life and health, including questions designed to reveal any emotional or mental problems.
Bangladeshi pupils who wore traditional clothing were significantly less likely to have mental health problems than those whose style of dress was a mix of traditional and white British styles.
When this was broken down by gender, it appeared that only girls were affected.
No similar effect was found in white British adolescents who chose a mixture of clothes from their own and other cultures.
More support
Professor Kam Bhui, one of the study authors, said that the result was "surprising" - he had expected that girls who were less fully integrated to show signs of greater strain.
"Traditional clothing represents a tighter family unit, and this may offer some protection against some of the pressures that young people face.
"What it suggests is that we need to assist people who are moving from traditional cultures and becoming integrated into Western societies, as they may be more vulnerable to mental health problems."
Professor James Nazroo, a medical sociologist at the University of Manchester, said that the findings meant that "notions of Britishness" should be dealt with in a sophisticated way.
"There are many ways in which people can be British - these girls who have good mental health, and still have a strong traditional culture, are by implication settled and comfortable with their identities."
Ethnic clothes mental health link
Teenage girls from some minority communities who stick to their family customs have better mental health, researchers say.
Queen Mary University of London found Bangladeshi girls who chose traditional rather than Western dress had fewer behavioural and emotional problems.
The team said close-knit families and communities could help protect them.
Pressure to integrate fully could be stressful, the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health reported.
Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to mental health problems, and the researchers said that identity, often bound up in friendship choices or clothing, played a role.
They questioned a total of 1,000 white British and Bangladeshi 11 to 14-year-olds about their culture, social life and health, including questions designed to reveal any emotional or mental problems.
Bangladeshi pupils who wore traditional clothing were significantly less likely to have mental health problems than those whose style of dress was a mix of traditional and white British styles.
When this was broken down by gender, it appeared that only girls were affected.
No similar effect was found in white British adolescents who chose a mixture of clothes from their own and other cultures.
More support
Professor Kam Bhui, one of the study authors, said that the result was "surprising" - he had expected that girls who were less fully integrated to show signs of greater strain.
"Traditional clothing represents a tighter family unit, and this may offer some protection against some of the pressures that young people face.
"What it suggests is that we need to assist people who are moving from traditional cultures and becoming integrated into Western societies, as they may be more vulnerable to mental health problems."
Professor James Nazroo, a medical sociologist at the University of Manchester, said that the findings meant that "notions of Britishness" should be dealt with in a sophisticated way.
"There are many ways in which people can be British - these girls who have good mental health, and still have a strong traditional culture, are by implication settled and comfortable with their identities."
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Become a mentor
Volunteer Mentors Needed For Young Muslims In Redbridge
The following is a request for all those who feel they would like to give something back! Alot of the problems that we face in this ummah and our communities can stem from our youth. Many do not have the right role model who that can look up to. This is you chnace to change that!
The following is a request for all those who feel they would like to give something back! Alot of the problems that we face in this ummah and our communities can stem from our youth. Many do not have the right role model who that can look up to. This is you chnace to change that!
The Redbridge Social Inclusion Mentoring Project works with young Muslims from
Redbridge aged 8-17 years and offers them access to a trained mentor who is
recruited from the local community. The aim of the mentoring relationship is to
improve the young person's social skills, reduce their social exclusion, and
empower them to take advantage of opportunities that are available to them.
Successfully recruited and trained mentors will be matched with a young
person. You should be available to meet with your mentee for at least an hour
once a week at an agreed time and place that is convenient for you both. The
mentoring relationship is voluntary for the young person and it will last for up
to 12 months. You will
receive ongoing support and supervision during this
period.
If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a
mentor, please request an application pack by emailing:
sana.saleem@redbridge.gov.uk or
RedbridgeMentoringProject@redbridge.gov.uk
The deadline for receipt of completed application forms is Friday 18th January.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Depression leads to worst health
Depression leads to worst health
Depression is a more disabling condition than angina, arthritis, asthma and diabetes, World Health Organization research shows.
And those with depression plus a chronic illness, such as diabetes, fare particularly badly, the study of more than 245,000 people suggests.
Better treatment for depression would improve people's overall health, the researchers concluded in the Lancet.
Experts called for better funding for mental health services.
Dr Somnath Chatterji and colleagues asked people from 60 countries taking part in the World Health Survey a variety of questions about their health, such as how they sleep, how much pain they have, and whether they have any problems with memory or concentration.
After taking into account factors such as poverty and other health conditions, the researchers found that depression had the largest effect on worsening health.
And people with depression who also had one or more chronic diseases had the worst health scores of all the diseases looked at or combinations of diseases.
Urgency
Dr Somnath Chatterji said: "The co-morbid state of depression incrementally worsens health compared with depression alone, with any of the chronic diseases alone, and with any combination of chronic diseases without depression.
"These results indicate the urgency of addressing depression as a public health priority to reduce disease burden and disability, and to improve the overall health of populations."
The team called on doctors around the world to be more alert in the diagnosis and treatment of the condition, noting that it is fairly easy to recognise and treat.
Marcus Roberts, head of policy at mental health charity Mind, said the impact of depression could be devastating on relationships, finances and physical health.
"The treatment of depression must be given equal footing to the treatment of other conditions.
"While treatments for most physical health problems are readily accessible, mental health treatments such as talking therapies are limited, with some patients waiting months or even years for their first appointment with a therapist."
He added that mental health was often overlooked in those with chronic health problems, as doctors focused on the physical symptoms.
'Vast sea of misery'
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: "Seven million adults in England suffer from a common mental health problem such as anxiety, eating disorders and depression.
"We recognise that many of those with depression do not receive treatment at the moment, partly because they do not seek appropriate help.
"The government is committed to providing greater choice and access to timely and appropriate treatment options and is currently working to expand access to and choice of talking therapies in the NHS."
Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, said: "We now have yet more evidence, as if it were needed, of the destructive and life-threatening effects of depression, which this global study shows can be an even greater danger than many chronic physical conditions.
"Yet even in developed countries like our own, proper diagnosis and appropriate treatment can be patchy at best.
"A vast sea of misery could be avoided if this condition received the same attention and resources as Aids or cancer."
Lynn Mitchell, who has terminal lung condition, chronic obstructive lung disease, reached rock bottom two years ago with her depression.
And although she had always received quick treatment for her lung problems on the NHS she struggled to get help for her mental illness.
Now she is on antidepressants and feels a different woman.
"I think if I hadn't had help with my mental attitude I would have been dead.
"My life was so bad and so bleak it was just horrendous really. I didn't want to live but now I don't want to die."
Depression is a more disabling condition than angina, arthritis, asthma and diabetes, World Health Organization research shows.
And those with depression plus a chronic illness, such as diabetes, fare particularly badly, the study of more than 245,000 people suggests.
Better treatment for depression would improve people's overall health, the researchers concluded in the Lancet.
Experts called for better funding for mental health services.
Dr Somnath Chatterji and colleagues asked people from 60 countries taking part in the World Health Survey a variety of questions about their health, such as how they sleep, how much pain they have, and whether they have any problems with memory or concentration.
After taking into account factors such as poverty and other health conditions, the researchers found that depression had the largest effect on worsening health.
And people with depression who also had one or more chronic diseases had the worst health scores of all the diseases looked at or combinations of diseases.
Urgency
Dr Somnath Chatterji said: "The co-morbid state of depression incrementally worsens health compared with depression alone, with any of the chronic diseases alone, and with any combination of chronic diseases without depression.
"These results indicate the urgency of addressing depression as a public health priority to reduce disease burden and disability, and to improve the overall health of populations."
The team called on doctors around the world to be more alert in the diagnosis and treatment of the condition, noting that it is fairly easy to recognise and treat.
Marcus Roberts, head of policy at mental health charity Mind, said the impact of depression could be devastating on relationships, finances and physical health.
"The treatment of depression must be given equal footing to the treatment of other conditions.
"While treatments for most physical health problems are readily accessible, mental health treatments such as talking therapies are limited, with some patients waiting months or even years for their first appointment with a therapist."
He added that mental health was often overlooked in those with chronic health problems, as doctors focused on the physical symptoms.
'Vast sea of misery'
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: "Seven million adults in England suffer from a common mental health problem such as anxiety, eating disorders and depression.
"We recognise that many of those with depression do not receive treatment at the moment, partly because they do not seek appropriate help.
"The government is committed to providing greater choice and access to timely and appropriate treatment options and is currently working to expand access to and choice of talking therapies in the NHS."
Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, said: "We now have yet more evidence, as if it were needed, of the destructive and life-threatening effects of depression, which this global study shows can be an even greater danger than many chronic physical conditions.
"Yet even in developed countries like our own, proper diagnosis and appropriate treatment can be patchy at best.
"A vast sea of misery could be avoided if this condition received the same attention and resources as Aids or cancer."
Lynn Mitchell, who has terminal lung condition, chronic obstructive lung disease, reached rock bottom two years ago with her depression.
And although she had always received quick treatment for her lung problems on the NHS she struggled to get help for her mental illness.
Now she is on antidepressants and feels a different woman.
"I think if I hadn't had help with my mental attitude I would have been dead.
"My life was so bad and so bleak it was just horrendous really. I didn't want to live but now I don't want to die."
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Psychologists and Torture
Assalamu alaykum
August issue of the British Psychologist - The Psychologist magazine, has an intriging article, please read and share your thoughts.
August 2007 484
The Psychologist Vol 20 No 8
Psychologists and torture
HOW can organised psychology best promote and protect human rights in relation to military occupation and the detention of terrorist suspects or insurgents?
The very terms used to pose this question indicate its fundamentally political nature. ‘Organised psychology’ refers to bodies like the British Psychological Society and the American Psychological Association (APA), but such bodies represent a variety of interests. For example, there are significant numbers of US psychologists in the pay of the military and related state organisations, as well as an APA ‘Division of Peace Psychology’. ‘Military occupation’ can indicate a particular understanding of the situations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine or Haiti, with varying views on where the liberation of the populations and the bringing of democracy sit on the agenda. ‘Terrorist suspects’ or ‘insurgents’ implies contrasting understandings of the motives of political violence, and of how people should be treated.
The US reservations, at least if narrowly interpreted, would exempt hooding, forced adoption of stress positions, isolation and sleep denial – the very techniques that formed the core of the CIA methods used at occupied Guantánamo, Abu Ghraib, and elsewhere (McCoy, 2006; Physicians for Human Rights, 2005) and by the British in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s (Watson, 1978). Basoglu et al. (2007) have recently provided empirical evidence that ‘psychological manipulations, humiliating treatment, and forced stress positions, do not seem to be substantially different from physical torture in terms of the severity of mental suffering they cause, the underlying mechanism of traumatic stress, and their long-term psychological outcome’. So when the APA condemned torture, it may be argued that its definition, being parasitic on the US reservations, excluded precisely the kind of torture (approved by Defence
Secretary Rumsfeld in December 2002) based on psychological research and which psychological interrogation consultants might advise on. Similarly, the reservations and the APA exclude from the definition of torture the newer use of cultural, religious and sexual ridicule again documented at Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib.
While the APA declaration is clear that the same ethical rules apply to those in healthcare roles and those in other roles, this legitimation is in stark contrast to the position adopted by the World Medical Association, its 1975 declaration of Tokyo following the BMA review of the Northern Ireland experience. This declaration proscribed the participation of physicians in designing, or even monitoring, interrogation strategies. This rule was also adopted by both the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Psychiatric Association.
Moreover, the 1982 United Nations General Assembly addressed the ethical questions associated with the participation of medical and other health workers in the interrogation of detainees. These principles establish as an absolute rule that health workers ‘may not engage, actively or passively, in acts which constitute participation in, complicity in, incitement to or attempts to commit torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’ (cited in Rubinstein et al., 2005).
The BPS (2005) made a clear declaration against torture and the participation of psychologists and the use of psychological knowledge in its design. While it does not explicitly proscribe the
participation of psychologists in interrogation, it does endorse the UN declaration. Its position is at least implicitly in line with the medical bodies listed above, and at variance with the APA.
Just following orders?
The implication is that psychologists are permitted to assist in torture and abuse if they can claim that they first tried to resolve the conflict between their ethical responsibility and the law, regulations or government legal authority. Otherwise they can invoke the Nuremberg defence, but would still of course be out of step with international law. But this problem would not arise at all if there were a clear ban on all participation in interrogation, as suggested by Anne Anderson’s letter to Gerald Koocher of the APA.
DISCUSS AND DEBATE
How can psychologists best work to prevent military interventions in other countries?
August issue of the British Psychologist - The Psychologist magazine, has an intriging article, please read and share your thoughts.
August 2007 484
The Psychologist Vol 20 No 8
Psychologists and torture
More than a question of interrogation
MARK BURTON and CAROLYN KAGAN on how organised psychology should respond.
HOW can organised psychology best promote and protect human rights in relation to military occupation and the detention of terrorist suspects or insurgents?
The very terms used to pose this question indicate its fundamentally political nature. ‘Organised psychology’ refers to bodies like the British Psychological Society and the American Psychological Association (APA), but such bodies represent a variety of interests. For example, there are significant numbers of US psychologists in the pay of the military and related state organisations, as well as an APA ‘Division of Peace Psychology’. ‘Military occupation’ can indicate a particular understanding of the situations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine or Haiti, with varying views on where the liberation of the populations and the bringing of democracy sit on the agenda. ‘Terrorist suspects’ or ‘insurgents’ implies contrasting understandings of the motives of political violence, and of how people should be treated.
The APA has entered this complex sociopolitical debate about psychologists’ role in ‘national security’ (see The Psychologist, News, October 2006, and this month; Letters, November 2006). There are a number of key issues, not all of which were reported by The Psychologist or have surfaced within the APA debate. The main purpose here is not to document the debate and internal politics of the APA – that can be found elsewhere (Behnke, 2006; Moorhead-Slaughter, 2006; Psychologists for Social Responsibility, 2006a; Soldz, 2006a, 2006b; Summers, 1992); instead, the intention is to contextualise this debate in the wider debates and controversies on psychological torture. While the key issues we discuss have the APA at their heart, they are relevant to us all, due to the extensive influence of the APA over professional psychology worldwide.
What constitutes ‘torture’?
The APA’s President’s Task Force Report on Psychological Ethics and National Security (The PENS Report: APA, 2005) embraces the US government’s ‘Reservations, Declarations and Understandings’ to the United Nations Convention on Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or punishment (see McCoy, 2006; Soldz, 2006b). There are no less than 19 of these reservations (in itself remarkable), but the central issue is the definition of psychological torture itself.
The APA’s President’s Task Force Report on Psychological Ethics and National Security (The PENS Report: APA, 2005) embraces the US government’s ‘Reservations, Declarations and Understandings’ to the United Nations Convention on Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or punishment (see McCoy, 2006; Soldz, 2006b). There are no less than 19 of these reservations (in itself remarkable), but the central issue is the definition of psychological torture itself.
The US reservations, at least if narrowly interpreted, would exempt hooding, forced adoption of stress positions, isolation and sleep denial – the very techniques that formed the core of the CIA methods used at occupied Guantánamo, Abu Ghraib, and elsewhere (McCoy, 2006; Physicians for Human Rights, 2005) and by the British in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s (Watson, 1978). Basoglu et al. (2007) have recently provided empirical evidence that ‘psychological manipulations, humiliating treatment, and forced stress positions, do not seem to be substantially different from physical torture in terms of the severity of mental suffering they cause, the underlying mechanism of traumatic stress, and their long-term psychological outcome’. So when the APA condemned torture, it may be argued that its definition, being parasitic on the US reservations, excluded precisely the kind of torture (approved by Defence
Secretary Rumsfeld in December 2002) based on psychological research and which psychological interrogation consultants might advise on. Similarly, the reservations and the APA exclude from the definition of torture the newer use of cultural, religious and sexual ridicule again documented at Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib.
The role of psychologists
The APA also legitimises the role of psychologists in interrogation:
…it is consistent with the APA Ethics Code for psychologists to serve in consultative roles to interrogation and information-gathering processes for national security-related purposes…
(APA, 2005, p.1)
(APA, 2005, p.1)
While the APA declaration is clear that the same ethical rules apply to those in healthcare roles and those in other roles, this legitimation is in stark contrast to the position adopted by the World Medical Association, its 1975 declaration of Tokyo following the BMA review of the Northern Ireland experience. This declaration proscribed the participation of physicians in designing, or even monitoring, interrogation strategies. This rule was also adopted by both the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Psychiatric Association.
Moreover, the 1982 United Nations General Assembly addressed the ethical questions associated with the participation of medical and other health workers in the interrogation of detainees. These principles establish as an absolute rule that health workers ‘may not engage, actively or passively, in acts which constitute participation in, complicity in, incitement to or attempts to commit torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’ (cited in Rubinstein et al., 2005).
Therefore, by allowing psychologists to participate or assist in the interrogation process, the APA is adopting a position out of step with both the medical profession (as Anne Anderson of Psychologists for Social Responsibility pointed out in a letter in 2006 to APA President Gerald Koocher) and the wider UN declaration on health workers, while at the same time making a declaration that appears to condemn psychological torture.
The US context is distinctive. The military established Behavioural Science Consultation Teams to advise the Guantánamo interrogators (Miles, 2007; Physicians for Human Rights, 2005; Soldz, 2006a, 2006b). While the AMA and the American Psychiatric Association gave clear directions that this was inappropriate, the APA, following its military-dominated PENS Task Force, leaves the road open. Perhaps this is why the US military is reported as saying that it is planning to ‘use only psychologists…to help interrogators devise strategies to get information from detainees at places like Guantánamo Bay’ (New York Times, 7 June 2006, cited by Psychologists for Social Responsibility, 2006b).
The BPS (2005) made a clear declaration against torture and the participation of psychologists and the use of psychological knowledge in its design. While it does not explicitly proscribe the
participation of psychologists in interrogation, it does endorse the UN declaration. Its position is at least implicitly in line with the medical bodies listed above, and at variance with the APA.
Just following orders?
Most concerning of all, the APA allows its members the ‘Nuremberg defence’ that ‘I was only following orders’. Article 1.02 of the 2002 revision of the APA Ethics Code reads:
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. (APA, 2002)
The implication is that psychologists are permitted to assist in torture and abuse if they can claim that they first tried to resolve the conflict between their ethical responsibility and the law, regulations or government legal authority. Otherwise they can invoke the Nuremberg defence, but would still of course be out of step with international law. But this problem would not arise at all if there were a clear ban on all participation in interrogation, as suggested by Anne Anderson’s letter to Gerald Koocher of the APA.
As Miles (2004) indicates, the notion that by being present in compromised interrogations psychologists can prevent harm is almost certainly illusory, with significant risks of being ‘drawn in’ to the whole process. An ethical rulebook is a weak safeguard in such total institutions as
the Guantánamo or Abu Ghraib prisons, or in many other military and penal contexts.
the Guantánamo or Abu Ghraib prisons, or in many other military and penal contexts.
The roots of the APA position
The APA rests its declarations on two ethical principles, the first is the uncontroversial ‘do no harm’, while the second is that ‘psychologists are aware of their professional and scientific responsibilities to society’. Former APA President Gerald Koocher (cited in Soldz 2006c) used the combination of these principles to legitimise the involvement of US psychologists in interrogation and other roles in State security.
However, in our view the problem is not one of individual professional practice but of collusion with a whole oppressive system. The APA’s position is arguably consistent with a 50-year history of psychologists’ collaboration with US state security. As detailed by McCoy (2006), the CIA took up Hebb’s Canadian defencefunded work on sensory deprivation, funding further work to take it to its limits in producing psychological breakdown. This research and the phenomenon of sensory deprivation is the cornerstone of psychological torture, a paradigm refined
over the years (CIA, n.d.-b). This further development has been done within the
agency – for example in the mass torture of prisoners during the Vietnam war (McCoy, 2006), or through the culture-specific elements added for Muslim detainees in the present conflict (Physicians for Human Rights, 2005; Soldz, 2006b). It has also been done through further commissioned research, typically through CIA-created funding vehicles such as the Human
Ecology Fund (Greenfield, 1977; Harper, 2004; McCoy, 2006; Watson, 1978).
over the years (CIA, n.d.-b). This further development has been done within the
agency – for example in the mass torture of prisoners during the Vietnam war (McCoy, 2006), or through the culture-specific elements added for Muslim detainees in the present conflict (Physicians for Human Rights, 2005; Soldz, 2006b). It has also been done through further commissioned research, typically through CIA-created funding vehicles such as the Human
Ecology Fund (Greenfield, 1977; Harper, 2004; McCoy, 2006; Watson, 1978).
The symbiotic relationship of US psychology with influential sections of the US military-security establishment is also suggested by the majority of psychologists on the PENS Task Force with links to the military (see e.g. tinyurl.com/2186at), and what Soldz has argued are carefully crafted rules and guidance to psychologists on this question. He suggests that the APA leadership does not want to risk governmental support for psychology. As the APA Division 19 (Military Psychology) proudly proclaims, the US Department of Defence is the largest employer of psychologists worldwide. The problem is that support of psychology by the past and current US governments is, almost by definition, compromising for the ethics of the profession, not merely at the level of codes of practice but in terms of the very construction of the discipline itself together with its knowledge. Psychologists of our generation simply didn’t learn how classic research by Hebb, Schein, Orne (Harper, 2004), Janis and possibly Milgram (McCoy, 2006) was funded by the defence establishment with a view to improved social control in global conflicts.
As a further example of psychological complicity with state security, Gray and Zielinski (2006) argue that the CIA’s handbook on counter-insurgency (CIA, n.d.-a), used to such devastating effect on human rights in Central America, is likely to have been written by psychologists.
Considering the wording, and taking account of the size of the psychological operations units in the US army (the 4th Psychological Operations Group at Fort Bragg currently has 1300 staff and accounts for 26 per cent of the 5000 total: Pike, 2006), we too find this plausible.
Considering the wording, and taking account of the size of the psychological operations units in the US army (the 4th Psychological Operations Group at Fort Bragg currently has 1300 staff and accounts for 26 per cent of the 5000 total: Pike, 2006), we too find this plausible.
More than interrogation
No doubt some readers will be thinking that this is dirty work, but someone has to do it – that the ends, in terms of intelligence gained from interrogation, justifies the means. Yet consider the current conflict in Iraq: is the use of torture and ill treatment really a matter of interrogation and intelligence? It seems that in the 10 known US prisons, more than 50,000 people were detained at some point in 2005. Many were ill-treated using the various techniques known as psychological torture. At least 26 have been killed (Physicians for Human Rights, 2005). In addition to the death toll for Iraqis outside prison – some 186,000 excess deaths attributable to the coalition forces (Burnham et al., 2006) – and atrocities like the destruction of Fallujah, this massive intervention has the familiar characteristics of the regimes imposed on Vietnam and in
Latin America, where social control is imposed on a population by the establishment of fear. It has been suggested (e.g. Gray, 2006) that many of the torture victims are not actually interrogated, and are returned in extreme distress as a lesson to the population – just as the mutilated corpses left by the US-trained death squads in the Latin American dictatorships had the same purpose (CIA, n.d.-a).
Latin America, where social control is imposed on a population by the establishment of fear. It has been suggested (e.g. Gray, 2006) that many of the torture victims are not actually interrogated, and are returned in extreme distress as a lesson to the population – just as the mutilated corpses left by the US-trained death squads in the Latin American dictatorships had the same purpose (CIA, n.d.-a).
An enduring conflict
We would like to conclude by broadening the perspective further, just as radical psychologists have tried to argue that psychology should extend its analysis to the societal construction of psychological life and the mechanisms of social control (Armistead, 1974; Martín-Baró, 1996;
Parker, 1999). In our view, the imperialist state has for years been harnessing its psychology to refine its methods of social control (Herman, 1995; Prilleltensky, 1994), whether through anti-democratic, pro-system propaganda in the core countries of the West (Carey, 1997) or in
the control of those populations who try to take on the empire and its economic system (Duckett, 2005; Lira, 2000; Martín-Baró, 1988).
Parker, 1999). In our view, the imperialist state has for years been harnessing its psychology to refine its methods of social control (Herman, 1995; Prilleltensky, 1994), whether through anti-democratic, pro-system propaganda in the core countries of the West (Carey, 1997) or in
the control of those populations who try to take on the empire and its economic system (Duckett, 2005; Lira, 2000; Martín-Baró, 1988).
The implication of this analysis is that socially responsible psychologists should by all means work to achieve a coherent stance by organised psychology on torture and interrogation. This stance should be backed by a clear ethical code, and it should a) prohibit any involvement in
interrogation; b) prohibit psychologists from taking research and development money from state security organisations; and c) encourage involvement in the promotion of humane policies of detention and crime prevention, and against neocolonial military adventures.
interrogation; b) prohibit psychologists from taking research and development money from state security organisations; and c) encourage involvement in the promotion of humane policies of detention and crime prevention, and against neocolonial military adventures.
But we should not fall into the trap of thinking that this will change the basic paradigm of social control exerted by the state, which will also pick up and use psychological knowledge not produced in a military/state security context. Nor will it do much by itself to reduce the influence of the security apparatus on North American psychology – itself the hegemonic force in world psychology, and one that touches us all.
■ Mark Burton is a qualified clinical psychologist who now works as a manager in a public service. He writes here in a personal capacity. He is also a Visiting Professor at Manchester Metropolitan University.
■ Carolyn Kagan is Professor of Community Social Psychology and Director of the Research Institute for Health and Social Change at Manchester Metropolitan University.
How can psychologists best work to prevent military interventions in other countries?
How can psychologists best support initiatives to end torture and abuse of people in detention?
Have your say on these or other issues this article raises. E-mail ‘Letters’ on psychologist@bps.org.uk or contribute (members only) via http://www.psychforum.org.uk/.
Have your say on these or other issues this article raises. E-mail ‘Letters’ on psychologist@bps.org.uk or contribute (members only) via http://www.psychforum.org.uk/.
WEBLINKS
On the APA controversy: tinyurl.com/38dopfPsychologists for Social Responsibility: http://www.psysr.org/ The Martín Baró Fund: tinyurl.com/27qwbaThe CIA’s interrogation manual: www.kimsoft.com/2000/kubark.htm UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: www.hrweb.org/legal/cat.html
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Reconstructing social psychology.Harmondsworth: Penguin.Basoglu, M., Livanou, M. & Crnobari, C.(2007).
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Mortality after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: a crosssectionalcluster sample study. TheLancet, 368(9545), 1421–1428.Carey,A. (1997).
Taking the risk out ofdemocracy: Corporate propagandaversus freedom and liberty (editedby A. Lowrey). Champaign, IL:University of Illinois Press.CIA. (n.d.-a).
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Saturday, June 30, 2007
My Iraq: Child psychiatrist
As part of the BBC's Iraq week, child psychiatrist Dr Haidr al-Maliki describes his personal and professional anxieties. My Iraq: Child psychiatrist
Dr Haidr al-Maliki was an army psychiatrist during Saddam Hussein's regime.
He now works as a child psychiatrist at Ab Ibn Rushed Hospital in Baghdad. He lives with his wife and four children.
There used to be about 80 psychiatrists in Iraq, now there are just 20 to 25.
And some of them will leave. Fifteen or so will eventually go to the UAE or to Jordan; it's difficult.
About a year ago, during Ramadan, four boys aged about 15 to 20 came into my private clinic, in front of my patient.
They asked "Are you Dr Haidr?" I said yes. And they shot me several times.
One bullet went into my right shoulder, another into my right arm. I am left with nerve injury and muscle atrophy.
Afterwards they told me I couldn't go to my clinic and that I had to leave the country. They didn't say why.
So, now I don't go out, I just stay at home. My own private jail.
During Saddam's regime we could take our families to the cinema.
I want to drink, I want to dance, I want to visit my friends. But I can't do anything. If I even think about going for a drink in my club 500m from my house, I will be killed.
Iraqi people are living in difficult times. Most of us have been exposed to aggression: attacks in the street, car bombings, kidnappings.
Most Iraqi people now deal with each other in an aggressive way; they show disturbed behaviour; they have lost their civility.
We don't know how to treat these problems really.
But I can't leave Iraq. If I and my friends leave, who will help our people?
Limitations of care
I was asked to open the child psychiatry centre in Ab Ibn Rushed hospital, but I have no training in children, really.
I read books and I try to help.
Most of the children are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, especially those who have been exposed to kidnapping.
Most of the children I see are bedwetting. They have disturbed behaviour or epilepsy.
We treat them with simple medication; it is very difficult.
Most of the families come here for help and sometimes we can do nothing for them, except offer support and advice.
Source
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Psychologists - Instrumental to Torture
Pentagon Says Psychologists Have Been Instrumental to Torture
A new Pentagon report confirms that military psychologists played a central role in designing and implementing psychological torture at Guantanamo and in Iraq and Afghanistan. In response, PHR has called on the American Psychological Association (APA) to respond with immediate corrective action.
The Pentagon report reveals that military psychologists with the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) program transformed torture methods used in "resistance training" for US personnel into standard operating procedure for military interrogations. The methods, which are known to cause extreme harm, include stress positions, prolonged sleep deprivation, isolation, sensory bombardment, sexual humiliation, forced nudity, induced hypothermia, exploitation of fears and phobias and more.
The APA must do more than merely reiterate the Association's general policy against torture. PHR is urging the APA to reverse Association guidelines, written in part by SERE psychologists, that encourage a key role for psychologists in national security interrogations. In a letter to APA President Sharon Brehm, PhD, PHR calls for the APA "particularly to reject these [SERE] interrogation methods and prohibit any role of psychologists in designing, implementing, training or observing their use or evaluating detainees subjected to them."
PHR's letter to Dr. Brehm coincides with a growing movement of concerned APA members and other psychologists seeking to protect and restore psychological ethics in the national security setting. PHR urges psychologists to support this movement by endorsing a resolution currently before the APA Council of Representatives calling for a "Moratorium on Psychologist Involvement in Interrogations at US Detention Centers for Foreign Detainees." The Council of Representatives will vote on the resolution at the upcoming APA national convention in August.
The Pentagon report reveals that military psychologists with the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) program transformed torture methods used in "resistance training" for US personnel into standard operating procedure for military interrogations. The methods, which are known to cause extreme harm, include stress positions, prolonged sleep deprivation, isolation, sensory bombardment, sexual humiliation, forced nudity, induced hypothermia, exploitation of fears and phobias and more.
The APA must do more than merely reiterate the Association's general policy against torture. PHR is urging the APA to reverse Association guidelines, written in part by SERE psychologists, that encourage a key role for psychologists in national security interrogations. In a letter to APA President Sharon Brehm, PhD, PHR calls for the APA "particularly to reject these [SERE] interrogation methods and prohibit any role of psychologists in designing, implementing, training or observing their use or evaluating detainees subjected to them."
PHR's letter to Dr. Brehm coincides with a growing movement of concerned APA members and other psychologists seeking to protect and restore psychological ethics in the national security setting. PHR urges psychologists to support this movement by endorsing a resolution currently before the APA Council of Representatives calling for a "Moratorium on Psychologist Involvement in Interrogations at US Detention Centers for Foreign Detainees." The Council of Representatives will vote on the resolution at the upcoming APA national convention in August.
For More Information visit Physicians for human rights website
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