Ethical guideline evolution in psychological support to interrogation operations.

Significant controversy has surrounded the use of psychologists as consultants to military commanders in the interrogation of captive enemy combatants. The evolution of ethical guidelines has rapidly brought standardization and guidance for the growing numbers of psychologists participating in these operations. This article recounts the integration of professional psychological resources in selected military operational units. It also relates the evolution of such resources and the development of ethical guidelines for psychologists supporting interrogation. Finally, the article advocates for the continuing role of psychologists in the provision of consultation to help ensure safe, legal, ethical, and effective military interrogation operations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Military children and families: Strengths and challenges during peace and war.

Throughout history, military children and families have shown great capacity for adaptation and resilience. However, in recent years, unprecedented lengthy and multiple combat deployments of service members have posed multiple challenges for U.S. military children and families. Despite needs to better understand the impact of deployment on military children and families and to provide proper support for them, rigorous research is lacking. Programs exist that are intended to help, but their effectiveness is largely unknown. They need to be better coordinated and delivered at the level of individuals, families, and communities. Research and programs need to take a comprehensive approach that is strengths based and problem focused. Programs for military children and families often focus on the prevention or reduction of problems. It is just as important to recognize their assets and to promote them. This article reviews existing research on military children and families, with attention to their strengths as well as their challenges. Issues in need of further research are identified, especially research into programs that assist military children and families. Military children and families deserve greater attention from psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Combat flow: Military, political, and ethical dimensions of subjective well-being in war.

The theory of flow argues that subjective well-being results from absorption in an activity that strikes a good balance between challenges and skills. This absorption has been termed flow. Such absorption is often reported in combat situations, in which it contributes both to the subjective well-being and to the efficiency of soldiers. This article suggests that combat flow may have been central to military training and military performance throughout history. The study of combat flow could therefore shed new light on military history and form the basis for the development of new training techniques. The article simultaneously probes the ethical and political implications of manipulating the subjective well-being of soldiers in such a way. It cautions scholars of flow and subjective well-being that they should be aware of the ethical and political implications of their studies and warns against the dangerous political results of equating subjective well-being with happiness. The article further calls for greater cooperation between psychologists and historians in the study of well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of deployment on U.S. military families.

Several recent articles have explored the effects of military deployment on U.S. service members' mental health outcomes. Although increased attention has also begun to focus on the effects of deployment on military families, providing a conceptualization for the mechanisms of this process can help organize existing information and inform future efforts. In this article we seek to draw greater attention to the effects of deployment on service members and to provide an overview of recent literature on the impact of deployment on service members and military families. A further goal is then to provide one conceptual perspective—a model of family stability—that may help inform our understanding of the impact of military deployment on families. Beyond informing research, the issues presented in this article have far-reaching consequences not only for American military families and their current mental health and primary care providers but also for practitioners in the broader mental health community who will be increasingly called upon to provide services to this population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Military are essential.

In his outburst against Meredith Crawford's (1970) article on military psychology (see record 1970-17677-001), M. J. Saks (see record 1990-56844-001) quotes from the APA's Ethical Standards: the psychologist "protects the welfare of any person who may seek his service . . . ." He then claims that "military psychology is clearly in conflict" with this principle. Saks is, of course, entitled to his personal opinion. But evidence is amply at hand to indicate that he does not represent the overwhelming majority of his fellow citizens who believe that the military are essential for the defense of their welfare in the present-day world. In their opinion, military psychology would further, rather than violate, the above-quoted principle. It would seem wise, therefore, to express gratitude to Crawford and military psychology for the aid they give in making our armed forces more efficient in protecting the welfare of the United States. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some thoughts on the future of the professional practice of psychology.

Psychology is in the throes of internal upheaval at a time when we are faced with numerous and complex external challenges. Psychology's unique contribution is in bridging the fields of science and practice, and the practice of psychology can flourish only by our emphasizing that bridge. The designation system, based on the concept of a common scientific core for all psychologists, is one approach to maintaining the bridge. The professional practice of psychology is also being challenged by new market conditions that will demand a climate of continued diversity and change. Settling on a specific form of service delivery may limit options as the market changes. Development of a managed care system in which psychologists are players rather than bystanders is one response to meet the challenges of the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The dark side of comprehensive soldier fitness.

Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF), the focus of the January 2011 special issue of the American Psychologist, is a $125 million resilience training initiative designed to reduce and prevent the adverse psychological consequences of combat for soldiers and veterans. These are worthy goals. Soldiers and veterans deserve the best care possible, and military psychologists have critically important roles to play. But the special issue is troubling in several important respects. Elsewhere, we have offered a detailed review (Eidelson, Pilisuk, & Soldz, 2011). Here we offer only a summary of our concerns. The CSF program is a massive research project launched without pilot testing to determine, first, the effectiveness of the training in a military environment. This is highly irregular and obviously worrisome considering the stakes. No evidence was provided indicating that CSF received preliminary review by an independent ethics review board. There are other ethically fraught possibilities.This special issue reveals much about current moral challenges facing the profession of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rehabilitation psychology practice, ethics, and a changing health care environment.

Rapid changes in the health care environment have brought about ethical and professional challenges for rehabilitation and rehabilitation psychology. The response of rehabilitation psychologists to the threats and opportunities of these challenges will have an impact on the welfare of persons with disabilities and the future of the profession. Managed care organizations have focused their efforts on the management of acute illness. Ethical concerns are being raised about patient access to care, self-determination, confidentiality, provider accountability, and marketing in managed care systems. Rehabilitation psychologists' skills in program development and outcome evaluation place them in a key position to influence the changes in the health care environment. To be effectual, however, fundamental changes must be made in research psychology practice, education and training, research focus, and professional activities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Siblings of military servicemembers: A qualitative exploration of individual and family systems reactions.

How does having a sibling in the military affect young adults? Despite increasing attention to the challenges faced by spouses and children of servicemembers, the siblings of servicemembers have been largely ignored in the existing literature. This qualitative investigation uses unstructured narratives to explore siblings' perceptions of changes in their lives and changes in the family of origin associated with having a family member enlist in the United States military. Thematic analyses revealed an acute period of conflict followed by reorganization, awareness of the parents' distress, changes in the emotional climate of the family, shifts in family roles, admiration for the military sibling, and increased meaning and purpose for the family following the servicemember's enlistment. Computer-assisted text analyses revealed both positive and negative emotional expressions associated with the siblings' military service. For professional psychologists who come into contact with siblings of servicemembers, it is important to recognize that military enlistment can have ripple effects and complicate other common individual and family stresses. More generally, it is important to provide siblings and the family of origin with information about what to expect during and after the servicemember's enlistment, especially since these families may lack support from and contact with others going through similar transitions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The case for treating depression in military spouses.

The increased operational tempo associated with current deployments to Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) is placing considerable strain on military families. Among other sequelae of OIF and OEF deployment, findings from recent studies suggest high rates of depression in spouses of service members. This review presents a rationale for targeting depression among military spouses. It examines how stressors relating to the deployment cycle may contribute to depression in spouses and outlines the effects of spousal depression on the mental health of service members and their children. Mental health services currently available to military spouses as well as barriers to their care are also described. Considerations for the adaptation of treatment to their unique circumstances and needs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology in extremis: Preventing problems of professional competence in dangerous practice settings.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 42(2) of Professional Psychology: Research and Practice (see record 2011-08009-001). The title and authors for the first section of the article, beginning of the first column on page 95, were inadvertently omitted. The section should have begun with the following: “In Extremis Practice: Ensuring Competence During and After Deployment to a Combat Zone,” by W. Brad Johnson and Shannon J. Johnson.] When a psychologist provides services in a dangerous context—a work setting defined by persistent threat to the psychologist's own personal safety and well-being—the psychologist is said to practice in extremis. Psychologists who routinely function in extremis, such as those in correctional, disaster response, military, and police psychology—among other specialties—may be at increased risk for troubling experiences such as direct or vicarious traumatization, compassion fatigue, and empathy failure. Over time, in extremis experiences may contribute to decrements in professional competence. When psychologists become aware of personal problems that interfere with their work, they must take steps to ameliorate the problem while protecting consumers. In this Focus on Ethics, we discuss the difficulty inherent in self-identifying and correcting problems of professional competence when working in a high-threat environment. Three expert commentaries further elucidate in extremis competency concerns from the perspective of disaster response, police, and military psychology. The authors provide numerous recommendations for helping psychologists to ensure ongoing competence in in extremis jobs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Human Engineering.

In light of N. D. Warren's (see record 1957-09051-001) that the term "human engineering" was first used as a title for the process of selection, placement, and vocational guidance, Stevens calls attention to the use of the term human engineering by Raymond Dodge, who may have been the first professional psychologist to impress the military with the need for the engineering of equipment for human use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Obtaining subjects for research.

5 sources of Ss which have produced ample data include: (a) United States Employment Service, (b) military reserve units, (c) operational military units, (d) prisons, (e) fire departments. "The research subject problem can be solved by obtaining the help of organizations other than universities… . The cooperation of these organizations can best be obtained by establishing a rapport based on an understanding of their needs." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Christian social policy and homosexuality in The Netherlands, 1900-1970

This essay explores the historical process in which homosexuality became an object for pastoral, medical, and mental health care in the Dutch Catholic community during the twentieth century. The confrontation between a moral-religious approach and the professional (medical and psychological) treatment of homosexuality is the central issue. In a continuing dialogue and a process of changing power relations between clergymen, physicians, psychiatrist, psychologists, and pedagogues as well as Catholic homosexuals themselves, homosexuality was transformed from sin and pathology into a psychological and social problem that could be treated in pastoral and mental health care. The changing attitudes of Catholics towards homosexuality can be explained in the context of the changing relations between religion on the one hand and health care on the other hand. Current viewpoints resulting from sociohistorical studies on the development of the medical and welfare professions have concluded that religion lost importance in modern society because physicians, psychiatrists, psycho-therapists, and social workers not only created new areas of intervention in people's private lives, but also took over the traditional tasks of the church in the field of charity and pastoral care. Medical anamnesis, psychoanalysis, and psychotherapy took the place of confession and pastoral care, thus the argument runs, and remission of sins and redemption were replaced by health and welfare. However, especially in the case of the development of the Dutch welfare state, there was a more complicated interplay between changing religious values and professional strategies. In the Netherlands professional health care and welfare institutions often were organized in a religious context and it is difficult to make a clear differentiation between religious and moral discourses on the one hand and medical and psychological ones on the other hand. Moreover, professional interventions did not take the place of pastoral care; it appears that pastoral care for homosexuals gained ground and was intensified after medical and psychological definitions of homosexuality had found acceptance in the Catholic community. Professional strategies did not supersede religion, but rather contributed to a moral re-orientation and a new pattern of Christian values and appreciations in the field of sexuality.     

Engineered Society.

The article by Charles W. Bray ("Toward a technology of human behavior for defense use." American Psychologist, 1962, 17, 527-541, see record 1963-04066-001) brings up two comments that the present author comments on. The first is that ethical and moral considerations are not merely "to be taken into account" in this sort of research, but that they are crucial. On the other hand, we cannot disregard the argument that by attempting to "persuade" the public to accept the ideology and opinions of one group (here, the military) we are violating one of the first rules of the game of democracy: Present your arguments rationally and assume that they will be judged rationally. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Psychology in extremis: Preventing problems of professional competence in dangerous practice settings": Correction to Johnson et al. (2011).

Reports an error in "Psychology in extremis: Preventing problems of professional competence in dangerous practice settings" by W. Brad Johnson, Shannon J. Johnson, Glenn R. Sullivan, Bruce Bongar, Laurence Miller and Morgan T. Sammons (Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 2011[Feb], Vol 42[1], 94-104). The title and authors for the first section of the article, beginning of the first column on page 95, were inadvertently omitted. The section should have begun with the following: “In Extremis Practice: Ensuring Competence During and After Deployment to a Combat Zone,” by W. Brad Johnson and Shannon J. Johnson. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2011-04544-013.) When a psychologist provides services in a dangerous context—a work setting defined by persistent threat to the psychologist's own personal safety and well-being—the psychologist is said to practice in extremis. Psychologists who routinely function in extremis, such as those in correctional, disaster response, military, and police psychology—among other specialties—may be at increased risk for troubling experiences such as direct or vicarious traumatization, compassion fatigue, and empathy failure. Over time, in extremis experiences may contribute to decrements in professional competence. When psychologists become aware of personal problems that interfere with their work, they must take steps to ameliorate the problem while protecting consumers. In this Focus on Ethics, we discuss the difficulty inherent in self-identifying and correcting problems of professional competence when working in a high-threat environment. Three expert commentaries further elucidate in extremis competency concerns from the perspective of disaster response, police, and military psychology. The authors provide numerous recommendations for helping psychologists to ensure ongoing competence in in extremis jobs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)