Stephen Soldz
Stephen Soldz is a psychologist, psychoanalyst, and public health researcher on the faculty of the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. He became active in the movement to remove psychologists from abusive interrogations in 2006, when he published an article on the topic in CounterPunch. Since then he has published dozens of articles, newspaper columns, professional papers, and book chapters on psychologists, torture, interrogations, and the American Psychological Association. He is considered by many to be the chronicler of this issue. Dr. Soldz is a consultant to Physicians for Human Rights and coauthored PHR’s report Experiments in Torture documenting illegal and unethical CIA research on interrogations. He is currently President of Psychologists for Social Responsibility (PsySR).
Dr. Soldz is a recognized expert in research and evaluation design. He has consulted to the federal, state, and local governments and private companies on research issues. He has over 70 research and clinical papers in such areas as personality, psychotherapy research, longitudinal research, substance abuse, and tobacco control. Soldz is the editor (with Leigh McCullough) of Reconciling Empirical Knowledge and Clinical Experience: The Art and Science of Psychotherapy (APA Books, 2000). He is on the Editorial Boards of Psychotherapy Research and Politics and Psychotherapy International, as well as the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Research Practice.
For the Coalition, Soldz focuses upon research, writing, and press relations. He has made numerous radio and television appearances discussing aspects of the interrogations issue as well as other psychological and social issues. In addition to Coalition statements which are available HERE, a partial list of Dr. Soldz's other writings on torture and interrogation is provided below.
2010
- The Guantánamo Suicides: Murder and Cover-Up. Counterpunch, January 19, 2010.
- The Seven Paragraphs: Released Binyan Mohamed Abuse Evidence Poses Problems for Both British and US Governments. ZNet, February 11, 2010.
- Justice Department protects the torture lawyers, persecutes the ethical. OpEdNews, February 24, 2010.
- APA Removes Its Infamous "Nuremberg Defense": But leaves other ethics loopholes. ZNet, March 4, 2010.
- The "Black Jail": Obama's Afghan Torture Center and the American Psychological Association. Counterpunch, May 21-23, 2010.
- Experiments in Torture: Human Subject Research and Evidence of Experimentation in the ‘Enhanced’ Interrogation Program. Physicians for Human Rights, June 10, 2010. (Soldz is one of seven coauthors of this report)
- Shocking New Report: The CIA Performed Human Experiments on Prisoners Under Bush. Alternet, June 7, 2010.
- Coalition files Office of Human Research Protections Complaint: Investigate CIA Research. OpEdNews, June 10, 2010.
- June 26, is the United Nations' International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Stephen Soldz & Steven Reisner, San Francisco Chronicle: The Opinion Shop, June 25, 2010.
- The CIA’s Torture Research Program. International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), Preventing Torture Within the Fight Against Terrorism, July 2010, Volume 4, Issue 2, pp. 1-2.
- Psychologists defying torture: The challenge and the path ahead. Chapter in: Adrienne Harris & Steven Botticelli (eds.) (2010). TFirst do no harm: he paradoxical encounters of psychoanalysis, warmaking, and resistance. New York: Routledge, pp. 67-105.
- Psychologists, Torture, and Civil Society. Chapter to appear in Marjorie Cohn (ed.) (forthcoming). The United States and Torture, New York: New York University Press.
2009
- Closing Eyes to Atrocities: U.S. Psychologists, Detainee Interrogations, and Response of the American Psychological Association. Chapter in: Roseman, M. & Goodman, R. (Eds.), (2009). Interrogations, Forced Feedings, and the Role of Health Professionals: New Perspectives on International Human Rights, Humanitarian Law and Ethics, Cambridge, Harvard University Press.
- Official Reports Disagree With James' Defense of Psychologists in Detention Centers. National Psychologist, January-February 2009, p. 5.
- Torture of Abu Zubaida, designed by psychologists, yielded nothing. OpEdNews, March 29, 2009.
- John Brennan and the administration stalling on Bush torture memos. OpEdNews, April 1, 2009.
- Obama and human rights: Shame on me. OpEdNews, April 11, 2009.
- Obama, Blair, Panetta and the Torture Memos: Praising Moral Cowards, Ignoring Real Heroes. Counterpunch, April 20, 2009.
- Bioethicist Steven Miles joins call for investigation of American Psychological Association ties to military. OpEdNews, April 27, 2009.
- New article elucidates military psychologists' complicity in detainee abuse and "ethics" coverup. OpEdNews, May 6, 2009.
- A "Natural Reaction"? APA Ethics Policy-Maker Endorses Torture . Counterpunch, May 6, 2009.
- "Sleep deprivation": Euphemism and CIA torture of choice. OpEdNews, May 10, 2009.
- APA ethics policy-maker clarifies defense of torture; reveals American Psychological Association - Pentagon collusion. ZNet, May 20, 2009.
- Former American Psychological Association President had long time CIA connection. OpEdNews, June 18, 2009.
- Can the American Psychological Association Break With Torture Collusion?. ACLU Blog of Rights, June 24, 2009.
- Will the American Psychological Association finally renounce the Nuremberg Defense?. Scoop, July 29, 2009.
- The American Psychological Association and the Missing Ethics Investigation: How APA Suppressed an Ethics Complaint and Appointed the Accused to Formulate Ethics Policy on Torture. ZNet, July 30, 2009.
- Military letter to the APA: Drop the Nuremberg Defense from psychologist ethics code. OpEdNews, August 5, 2009.
- UN Special Rapporteur on Torture on Torture Calls on American Psychological Association to Withdraw Psychologists from Guantánamo Detention Camp. OpEdNews, August 12, 2009.
- Psychologist Accused of War Crimes Opposes Investigations: The Case of Col. Larry James. Counterpunch, September 8, 2009.
- APA Challenged: Members file complaint charging procedural irregularities on abusive interrogations policy. ZNet, October 30, 2009.
- The "Ethical Interrogation": The Myth of Michael Gelles and the al-Qahtani Interrogation. Truthout, December 21, 2009.
2008
- Psychologists, Detainee Interrogations, and Torture: Varying Perspectives on Nonparticipation. Stephen Soldz & Brad Olson. Chapter in Almerindo Ojeda (Ed.). The Trauma of Psychological Torture. Westport, CT: Praeger.
- The ethics of interrogation and the American Psychological Association: A critique of policy and process. Brad Olson, Stephen Soldz, and Martha Davis; Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine, January, 2008, Volume 3, Issue 3.
- "Att psykologer har förhindrat övergrepp mot fängslade är en fantasi" / “That psychologists have prevented abuse against detainees is a fantasy”. (In Swedish and English) Psykologernastidning (Swedish Journal of Psychology), No: 3/2008, pp. 12-13. In Swedish: Swedish and English was here, but the link is apparently dead: (This version is available from the author). Also available HERE.
- A Reaction to the APA Vote on Sealing Up Key Loopholes in the 2007 Resolution on Interrogations. Stephen Soldz and Brad Olson, ZNet, March 1, 2008.
- Involuntary Drugging of US Detainees: A Crisis for the Health Professions. Alternet, April 23, 2008.
- Isolation driving Guantanamo detainees insane: Will APA act?. OpEdNews, April 26, 2008.
- American Psychological Association Supports Psychologist Engagement in Bush Regime Interrogations: A Critique of Stephen Behnke's Letter to the ACLU. Counterpunch, May 27, 2008.
- Accountability for torture at last?. OpEdNews, June 8, 2008.
- Torture After Dark: Torture and the Strategic Helplessness of the American Psychological Association. Stephen Soldz, Brad Olson, Steven Reisner, Jean Maria Arrigo & Bryant Welch; Counterpunch, July 22, 2008.
- The Torture Trainers and the American Psychological Association. ZNet, June 25, 2008.
- Systematized sleep deprivation at Guantanamo persisted far longer than previously admitted . OpEdNews, August 8, 2008.
- Vote Against Torture Collusion: Psychologists Vote on Referendum Against Participating in Bush Regime Detention Centers. Znet, August 10, 2008.
- Ending the psychological mind games on detainees. Boston Globe, August 10, 2008 (Op Ed).
- Healers or Interrogators: Psychology and the United States Torture Regime. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, Volume 18, Issue 5, September 2008 , pp. 592 – 613. (pdf available from the author)
- Defense Department issues statement opposing APA Referendum: “There are no neutrals there.”. Psyche, Science, and Society, August 22, 2008.
- APA ban pressures US government to shut down enhanced interrogation program. Jurist, September 21, 2008.
- Psychologists Reject the Dark Side: American Psychological Association Members Reject Participation in Bush Detention Centers. Stephen Soldz & Brad Olson, Scoop, September 23, 2008.
- Guantanamo's SERE Standard Operating Procedures. Wikileaks, October 13, 2008.
- Psychologists Defying Torture: The Path Ahead. PsySR Herald: Psychologists for Social Responsibility’s Online Newsletter, November, 2008 Vol. 2, No. 1. Article extracted as separate pdf: HERE.
- Psychologists to Obama: Don't Name Torture Apologist John Brenner CIA Director. An open letter from 200 psychologists and allies who are urging Obama not to select John Brennan to be Director of the CIA. Alternet, November 25, 2008.
- A response to the APA from a member of the APA: The American Psychological Association and Abusive Detention Center Policy: Progress Despite Stiff Opposition. Torture, 2008, Volume 18, Issue 3, 187-192.
(This letter was credited by some observers as playing a major role in preventing Brennan from being appointed CIA Director. cf. Associated Press: HERE)
2007
- Aid and Comfort for Torturers: Psychology and Coercive Interrogations in Historical Perspective. Common Dreams, April 15, 2007. Note: This essay is the text of a talk delivered, March 17, 2007 at a Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC) conference.
- Defense Department Releases Evidence of Central Role of Psychologists in Guantánamo and Iraq Interrogation Abuse: Inspector General documents role of Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) techniques . Scoop (New Zealand), May 31, 2007 and CounterPunch.
- Life in a CIA Torture Center. ZNet, June 11, 2007.
- Psychologists and CIA Torture. RINF.com, August 5, 2007.
- American Psychological Association Writes the Administration and Congress Criticizing Torture: Modest Progress. OpEdNews, November 5, 2007.
- Guantanamo document confirms psychological torture (with Julian Assange). Wikileaks, November 17, 2007.
- Positive Illusions and the Necessity of a Bright Line Forbidding Psychologist Involvement in Detainee Interrogations Brad Olson & Stephen Soldz, Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy (ASAP) , Volume 7, Issue 1, December 2007. (pdf available from author)
- The Facts be Damned!: Psychologists' President Defends Psychologist Participation in Detainee Interrogations. OpEdNews, December 3, 2007.
- Did destroyed CIA tapes show psychologists torturing? Did APA dodge a bullet?. OpEdNews, December 7, 2007.
- Guantanamo staff trashing web sites and spreading propaganda. OpEdNews, December 12, 2007.
Why Mary Pipher Returned Her APA Award. CounterPunch, August 25/26, 2007.
Also as Isolation Torture Routine at Guantanamo: A How-To Manual for Psychological Torture. Counterpunch, November 21, 2007.
2006
- Psychologists, Guantanamo and Torture: A Profession Struggles to Save Its Soul. CounterPunch, August 1, 2006.
- American Medical Association emphasizes interrogation policy differences with APA. OpEdNews, August 28, 2006.
- Protecting the Torturers: Bad Faith and Distortions From the American Psychological Association. CounterPunch, September 6, 2006.
- A Defining Difference Between Psychiatrist and Psychologists: Abusive Interrogations. CounterPunch, December 12, 2006.
2005
- The Psychodynamics of Occupation and the Abuse at Abu Ghraib. Discourse of Sociological Practice, Volume 6, Issue 1, pp. 23-35, 2007. Also available from ZNet, April 5, 2005.
2004