Are Illiberal Acts Unethical? APA’s Ethics Code and the Protection of Free Speech

O'Donohue, W., & Fisher, J. E. (2022). 

American Psychologist, 77(8), 875–886.

https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000995

Abstract

The American Psychological Association’s (APA’s) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (American Psychological Association, 2017b; hereinafter referred to as the Ethics Code) does not contain an enforceable standard regarding psychologists’ role in either honoring or protecting the free speech of others, or ensuring that their own free speech is protected, including an important corollary of free speech, the protection of academic freedom. Illiberal acts illegitimately restrict civil liberties. We argue that the ethics of illiberal acts have not been adequately scrutinized in the Ethics Code. Psychologists require free speech to properly enact their roles as scientists as well as professionals who wish to advocate for their clients and students to enhance social justice. This article delineates criteria for what ought to be included in the Ethics Code, argues that ethical issues regarding the protection of free speech rights meet these criteria, and proposes language to be added to the Ethics Code.

Impact Statement

Freedom of speech is a fundamental civil right and currently has come under threat. Psychologists can only perform their duties as scientists, educators, or practitioners if they are not censored or fear censorship. The American Psychological Association’s (APA’s) Ethics Code contains no enforceable ethical standard to protect freedom of speech for psychologists. This article examines the ethics of free speech and argues for amending the APA Ethics Code to more clearly delineate psychologists’ rights and duties regarding free speech. This article argues that such protection is an ethical matter and for specific language to be included in the Ethics Code.

Conclusions

Free speech is central not only within the political sphere but also for the proper functioning of scholars and educators. Unfortunately, the ethics of free speech are not properly explicated in the current version of the American Psychological Association’s Ethics Code and this is particularly concerning given data that indicate a waning appreciation and protection of free speech in a variety of contexts. This article argues for fulsome protection of free speech rights by the inclusion of a clear and well-articulated statement in the Ethics Code of the psychologist’s duties related to free speech. Psychologists are committed to social justice and there can be no social justice without free speech.

A pdf is paywalled here.

Institutional betrayal, institutional courage and the church

Susan Shaw

Baptist News Global

Originally published 26 JUL 22

Betrayal by trusted people, like pastors, teachers, supervisors and coaches can inflict devastating consequences on victims. According to psychologists who study trauma, betrayal trauma affects the brain differently than any other trauma, particularly when the victim depends upon the perpetrator. Betrayal trauma threatens the very sense of self of the victim, who often cannot easily escape because of physical, psychological or spiritual dependence.

Institutional betrayal

When institutions don’t address perpetrators but rather meet survivors with denial, harassment and attack, they engage in institutional betrayal. Institutional betrayal occurs “when an institution causes harm to people who depend on it.”

Betrayal blindness describes ignoring, overlooking, “not-knowing” and forgetting betrayal. People, including victims themselves as well as perpetrators and witnesses, exhibit betrayal blindness to “preserve relationships, institutions and social systems upon which they depend.”

We don’t have to think very long to name a depressing list of instances of institutional betrayal by the church: segregation, clergy sex abuse, conversion therapy, exclusion of women from church leadership and ordained ministry, purity culture, the Magdalene laundries, witch hunts, Indian schools, on and on.

In recent days, we’ve seen institutional betrayal at work in megachurches like Hillsong and Highpoint, where popular pastors engaged in abusive conduct and their churches enabled them. The clergy abuse scandals in the Catholic Church and Southern Baptist Convention are textbook examples of institutional betrayal — institutions that chose to protect themselves rather than address the harm done to members.

Rather than challenging itself to create welcome, repair harm and do justice, the church often has chosen to preserve itself, to overlook harmful behavior by leaders and to demonize and ostracize those who speak out against abuse

Findley Edge, who taught religious education at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote about the process of institutionalization. Edge explained people developed great and exciting ideas, and these ideas lead to innovations and movements. As time goes along, these innovations and movements develop structure to continue to facilitate their growth. Eventually, the first generation that formed the great and exciting idea dies out, and soon people only know the institution and not the idea that sparked it. Their goal then becomes preservation of the institution, not the idea.

Uncritical dedication to the preservation of an institution can easily lead to institutional betrayal, especially when people depend upon organizations like the church, work or family.

Jennifer Freyd, the psychologist who coined “institutional betrayal,” says people protect institutions by participating in what she calls DARVO — Deny, Attack and Reverse Victim and Offender.

The info is here.

For Biden Administration, Equity Initiatives Are A Moral Imperative

Juana Summers

www.npr.org

Originally posted 6 Feb 21

Here is an excerpt:

Many of the Biden administration's early actions have had an equity through-line. For example, the executive actions that he signed last week include moves to strengthen anti-discrimination policies in housing, fighting back against racial animus toward Asian Americans and calling on the Justice Department to phase out its contracts with private prisons.

The early focus on equity is an attempt to account for differences in need among people with historically disadvantaged backgrounds. Civil rights leaders and activists have praised Biden's actions, though they have also made clear that they want to see more from Biden than just rhetoric.

"The work ahead will be operationalizing that, ensuring that equity doesn't just show up in speeches but it shows up in budgets. That equity isn't simply about restoring us back to policies from the Obama years, but about what is it going to take to move us forward," said Rashad Robinson, the president of the racial justice organization, Color of Change.

Susan Rice, the chair of Biden's Domestic Policy Council, made the case that there is a universal, concrete benefit to the equity policies Biden is championing.

"These aren't feel-good policies," Rice told reporters in the White House briefing room. "The evidence is clear. Investing in equity is good for economic growth, and it creates jobs for all Americans."

That echoes what Biden himself has said. He has linked the urgent equity focus of his administration to the fates of all Americans.

"This is time to act, and this is time to act because it's what the core values of this nation call us to do," he said. "And I believe that the vast majority of Americans — Democrats, Republicans and independents — share these values and want us to act as well."

The info is here.

Borderline Disorder: Medical Personnel and Law Enforcement

By Dien Ho, Kenneth A. Richman, and Mark Bigney
The Hastings Center - Bioethics and the Law
Originally published April 3, 2014

Here is an excerpt:

The American Civil Liberties Union recently filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a 54-year old New Mexico resident, “Jane Doe.” The defendants are the board of managers of El Paso County Hospital District, the University Medical Center of El Paso, two physicians, and agents of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The lawsuit alleges that on December 8, 2012 Ms. Doe was returning from a visit in Mexico when an agent of CBP informed her that she had been chosen for increased inspection and secondary screening.

After frisking failed to produce any contraband, agents sent her back in line to finish customs procedures. According to the complaint, a drug-sniffing dog, possibly prompted by a CBP agent, lurched at Ms. Doe. Agents then led her to a private room where she was subjected to further searches, including visual examination of her anus and vagina with a flashlight and the insertion of an agent’s finger into her vagina. Throughout the search, Ms. Doe never expressed consent, nor did the agents present a warrant.

The entire story is here.

Gay Spouses of Members of Military Get Benefits

By EMMARIE HUETTEMAN
The New York Times
Published: August 14, 2013

The Defense Department announced Wednesday that it would begin offering benefits to the same-sex spouses of military personnel and other employees by early September, in response to the Supreme Court decision that struck down the Defense of Marriage Act.

Under the plan, spousal and family benefits — including health care coverage, housing allowances and survivor benefits — will be available to all legally married military spouses. The same-sex spouses of service members and civilian Defense Department employees can claim the entitlements retroactively, starting with the date of the decision.

“The Department of Defense remains committed to ensuring that all men and women who serve in the U.S. military, and their families, are treated fairly and equally,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel wrote in a memo released by the Pentagon.

The entire story is here.

Senate panel OKs bill banning anti-gay job bias

By SAM HANANEL
The Associated Press
Originally published on July 10, 2013

Gay rights advocates notched another victory Wednesday after a Senate panel approved a bill that would prohibit employers from discriminating against workers on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The measure won support from all the Democrats and three Republicans on the 22-member committee, signaling it has a strong chance of passage in the full Senate.

The vote is another sign of rapidly changing attitudes on gay rights in Congress and the nation. It comes just two weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex spouses are entitled to the same federal benefits as other married couples in states where gay marriage is legal.

The entire story is here.

UNC Faces Federal Investigation Into Retaliation Complaint By Sexual Assault Survivor

By Tyler Kingkade
The Huffington Post
Originally published July 7, 2013

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is opening a new investigation into the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill over allegations that UNC-Chapel Hill sophomore Landen Gambill faced retaliation for filing a federal complaint against the university. Gambill's case gained national attention after she reported a sexual assault to the school and was later charged with a school honor code violation.

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Gambill filed an additional complaint in March after being charged with the honor code violation by the student-run honor court. The court charged that Gambill created an "intimidating" environment for her alleged abuser, an ex-boyfriend and fellow Chapel Hill student whom she has never named publicly. Gambill would have faced expulsion if she had been found guilty, but the charge was eventually dropped.

The entire story is here.

Prior stores about this case can be found here and here.

Editor's Note: When this story was discussed at a recent ethics education workshop, participants were stunned that there was no other civil rights actions convened against UNC-Chapel Hill.  Obviously, the story has changed.

PA Gay Marriage Ban Faces ACLU Challenge

By Chris Gentilviso
The Huffington Post
Originally published July 9, 2013

Two weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that a federal ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, the American Civil Liberties Union is bringing that decision to the state level.

The Associated Press reported Tuesday that the group is filing a lawsuit against Pennsylvania's same-sex marriage ban. The move will also aim to keep state officials from mounting further challenges against same-sex couples seeking to marry.

The entire story is here.

Editorial note: I would never have imagined that folks in Pennsylvania would be this progressive.

Supreme Court strikes down Defense of Marriage Act, paves way for gay marriage to resume in California

By Pete Williams and Erin McClam
NBC News
Originally posted June 26, 2013

In a pair of landmark decisions, the Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down the 1996 law blocking federal recognition of gay marriage, and it allowed gay marriage to resume in California by declining to decide a separate case.

The court invalidated the Defense of Marriage Act, which denied federal benefits to gay couples who are legally married in their states, including Social Security survivor benefits, immigration rights and family leave.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority in a 5-4 decision, said that the act wrote inequality into federal law and violated the Fifth Amendment’s protection of equal liberty.

“DOMA’s principal effect is to identify a subset of state-sanctioned marriages and make them unequal,” he wrote.

Edith Windsor, the 84-year-old woman who brought the case against DOMA, said that the ruling ensured that the federal government could no longer discriminate against the marriages of gays and lesbians.

“Children born today will grow up in a world without DOMA, and those same children who happen to be gay will be free to love and get married,” she said.

In the second case, the court said that it could not rule on a challenge to Proposition 8, a ban on gay marriage in California passed by voters there in 2008, because supporters of the ban lacked the legal standing to appeal a lower court’s decision against it.

The court did not rule on the constitutionality of gay marriage, but the effect of the decision will be to allow same-sex marriage to resume in California. That decision was also 5-4, written by Chief Justice John Roberts.

Lt. Gavin Newsom told NBC News that gay marriage would resume in California within 30 days. Gov. Jerry Brown said counties could begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples as soon as one formality was taken care of: A federal appeals court had to lift a stay issued by a lower judge.

The entire story is here.

Seven subjects off limits for teaching, Chinese universities told

Civil rights, press freedom and party's mistakes among subjects banned from teaching in order described by an academic as back-pedaling

By Raymond Li
South China Morning Post
Originally published May 11, 2013

Mainland universities have been ordered to steer clear of seven topics in their teaching, including universal values, press freedom and civil rights, two university staff said, offering an insight into ideological control under the new Communist Party leaders.

A law professor with a Shanghai-based university who requested anonymity because he feared persecution said yesterday that teaching staff at his university had been briefed about the seven taboo subjects, which also include judicial independence and the past mistakes of the Communist Party.

"Are we still a university if we are not allowed to talk about even civil rights and press freedom?" he asked.

He said he had no idea which party department had given the order, saying they were simply told that it came from the party's Central Committee.

A Beijing-based industrial relations professor said yesterday the order, in the form of a classified document, had come from the General Office of the party's Central Committee, and only a select group of teaching and administrative staff at his university had been briefed about it.

The Beijing professor, who also declined to be named, said he had not personally seen the document but had been briefed on it because he had been outspoken.

"It's apparent back-pedaling if we cannot talk about what the Communist Party did wrong in the past," he said.

The entire story is here.

Minnesota now 12th state to approve gay marriage

By Sofia Perpetua
NBCNews.com
Originally published May 15, 2013

As thousands cheered outside the state Capitol with rainbow and American flags, Governor Mark Dayton signed a bill on Tuesday that makes it possible for same-sex couples to get married.

Minnesota is the 12th state to pass a gay marriage bill and the first Midwestern state to do so through a legislative vote.

"What a day for Minnesota!" Dayton, a Democrat, declared moments before putting his signature on a bill. "And what a difference a year and an election can make in our state."

The bill was signed a day after it was approved by the Senate in a 37-30 vote.

"It is an overwhelming joyful day, the culmination of years of work. Two years ago it would have been unimaginable to be here," said Jake Loesch, communications director with Minnesotans United, a LGBT group. "It was incredible, we had 7,000 people cheering as the bill as signed, it was probably the biggest crowd the Capitol has ever seen."

The entire story is here.

Delaware becomes 11th state with gay marriage

By Doug Denison
The Wilmington Delaware New Journal
May 7, 2013

Delaware became the 11th state to legalize same-sex marriage after a lengthy debate Tuesday in the state Senate and the surprise votes of two lawmakers.

A half hour after the 12-9 Senate vote, Gov. Jack Markell signed the legislation into law on the main stairs in the lobby of Legislative Hall.

Democratic Sen. Bethany Hall-Long and Republican Sen. Catherine Cloutier provided the swing votes in favor of the legislation. Cloutier was the lone Republican yes vote in the Senate and one of two in the General Assembly as a whole.

According to the bill, Delawareans will be able to enter into same-sex marriages effective July 1. The law provides a mechanism for converting existing same-sex civil unions established in Delaware to marriages.

The entire story is here.

Rhode Island Legalizes Gay Marriage - 10th State to Legalize

The Huffington Post
Originally published May 2, 2013

Rhode Island became the tenth U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage Thursday with a 56-15 vote.

Just before he signed the legislation into law, Gov. Lincoln Chafee took to the steps of the Rhode Island State House, where he told a jubilant crowd, "Today we are making history ... we are living up to the ideals of our founder."

The entire article is here.

Amid Much Tumult, France Approves ‘Marriage for All’

By Scott Sayare
The New York Times
Originally published April 12, 2013

With a definitive vote by the lower house of Parliament, France on Tuesday became the world's 14th nation, and the third in just two weeks, to approve marriage rights for same-sex couples.

The legislation is expected to be approved by the Constitutional Council and signed into law by President Francois Hollande in time to allow the country's first same-sex weddings this summer.

Passage of the "marriage for all" law, sponsored by Mr. Hollande, a Socialist, came after months of sometimes angry debate and a series of major protests, rallies that drew Roman Catholics from France's rural regions and received the backing of Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders, as well as the conservative political opposition. Homophobic violence had risen in recent weeks, with a handful of attacks on gay couples reported across the country.

The entire story is here.

NFL to fight anti-gay bias, says N.Y. attorney general

By Atossa Araxia Abrahamian
Reuters
Originally posted April 24, 2013

he National Football League will step up its efforts to fight discrimination based on sexual orientation, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said on Wednesday.

The action comes after at least three college football players said they had been asked about their sexual orientation during NFL recruitment interviews earlier this year.

As a result of discussions with Schneiderman's office, the NFL will display posters in locker rooms that communicate the league's anti-discrimination rules, and all 32 teams in the league will undergo training, including the people involved in hiring and recruitment, Schneiderman said.

The entire story is here.

New Zealand legalizes same-sex marriage

By The Associated Press
Originally published April 17, 2013

Lawmakers voted 77 to 44 in favour of the gay-marriage bill on its third and final reading.
People watching from the public gallery and some lawmakers immediately broke into song after the result was announced, singing the New Zealand love song Pokarekare Ana in the indigenous Maori language.

"For us, we can now feel equal to everyone else," said Tania Penafiel Bermudez, a bank teller who said she already considers herself married to partner Sonja Fry but now can get a certificate to prove it. "This means we can feel safe and fair and right in calling each other wife and wife."

The entire article is here.

Boy Scouts propose to lift ban on gays as youth members, keep it for adult leaders

By DAVID CRARY
Associated Press
Originally posted April 20, 2013

Searching for compromise on a divisive issue, the Boy Scouts of America is proposing to partially lift its long-standing exclusion of gays — allowing them as youth members but continuing to bar them as adult leaders.

The proposal, unveiled Friday after weeks of private leadership deliberations, will be submitted to the roughly 1,400 voting members of the BSA's National Council during the week of May 20 at a meeting in Texas.

The key part of the resolution says no youth may be denied membership in the Scouts "on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone." A ban would continue on leadership roles for adults who are openly gay or lesbian.

Gay-rights groups, which had demanded a complete lifting of the ban, criticized the proposal as inadequate.

"Until every parent and young person have the same opportunity to serve, the Boy Scouts will continue to see a decline in both membership and donations," said Rich Ferraro, a spokesman for the gay-rights watchdog group GLAAD.

Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said the BSA was too timid.

The entire story is here.

Same-Sex Marriage - A Liberty for All

Michael Boucai, Sexual Liberty and Same-Sex Marriage: An Argument from Bisexuality, 49 San Diego L. Rev. 415 (2012), available at The Williams Institute.

By Clifford Rosky
Family Law: JOTWELL
Originally posted March 27, 2013

For more than twenty years, the constitutionality of laws against same-sex marriage has remained a hot topic among scholars, lawyers, and judges in the United States.  This month, the U.S. Supreme Court will finally hear argument on the constitutionality of two such laws—the federal law known as the Defense of Marriage Act and an amendment to the California Constitution known as Proposition 8.

After so many years and so many challenges, it has become increasingly difficult to find arguments and angles on this topic that are genuinely novel.  In recent years, it often feels as if the question has been exhausted—as if both sides have already said what is worth saying, and we all are just repeating ourselves, pleading and praying for Justice Kennedy’s vote.

Yet in his recent article, Professor Michael Boucai (Buffalo) manages to stake out a powerful new claim for same-sex marriage—a claim based on homosexual liberty, rather than the equality of lesbian and gay people or the fundamentality of marriage itself.  In the article’s opening sentence, Boucai explains: “This Article proposes that same-sex marriage bans channel individuals, particularly bisexuals, into heterosexual relations and relationships, impermissibly burdening the sexual liberty interest protected under Lawrence v. Texas.”

As Boucai recognizes, his argument from sexual liberty “departs dramatically” from the paradigms of advocacy and scholarship on this subject.

The entire article is here.

Leading pediatricians' group backs same-sex marriage

CBS/AP
Originally posted on March 21, 2013

The nation's most influential pediatrician's group has endorsed same-sex marriage, saying a stable relationship between parents regardless of sexual orientation contributes to a child's health and well-being.

The new policy of the American Academy of Pediatrics, published online Thursday, cites research showing that the parents' sexual orientation has no effect on a child's development. Kids fare just as well in same-sex or straight families when they are nurturing and financially and emotionally stable, the academy says.

Separately, a new national survey shows the nation's views on same-sex marriage are more favorable -- in large part because of a shift in attitudes among those who know someone who is gay or became more accepting as they got older of gays and lesbians.

The Pew Research Center poll also finds that a large group of younger adults who tend to be more open to gay rights is driving the numbers upward.

The entire article is here.

Suit claims Pa. prison system inflicts cruel, unusual punishment on mentally ill

By Maiken Scott
Newsworks
Originally published March 11, 2013

The Disability Rights Network is suing the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, claiming that housing seriously mentally ill prisoners in solitary confinement is unconstitutional.

In the lawsuit, the advocacy organization claims about 800 Pennsylvania prisoners with severe mental illnesses are incarcerated in "restricted housing units," where they dwell in small, single cells for at least 23 hours a day, with the lights on the entire time. The suit calls this cruel and unusual punishment.

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Pennsylvania's Department of Corrections would not comment on the suit, but officials said that of the state's 51,300 prisoners, about 20 percent are known to have mental health issues.

The entire article is here.