PINC Papers on the Responsibility of Psychotherapists in a Time of Torture

Read the papers presented at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California's conference entitled UNFREE ASSOCIATION: The Politics and Psychology of Torture in a Time of Terror.

On March 17, 2007, the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC) held a conference in San Francisco entitled UNFREE ASSOCIATION: The Politics and Psychology of Torture in a Time of Terror. This conference brought together four psychologists who have been at the forefront of the ongoing debate within the APA about psychologists’ involvement in military interrogation practices. Two presenters, Neil Altman and Ghislaine Boulanger, have initiated actions to abolish psychologists’ controversial involvement in interrogation practices, and will discuss their differing positions toward the APA.

This particular debate raises a larger question about the role of psychologists as cultural and political witnesses/bystanders in a time of terror. Steven Soldz and Nancy Hollander provide a timely look at this question as it affects both our day-to-day practice and our position as psychologists and psychoanalysts in the cultural unconscious. In addition, Elissa Marder, professor of literature, examines the psychological impact of the Abu Ghraib prison photographs on American society.