Torture, Ethics, and Professional Responsibility ETHC 1000 05 Professor: Dr. Linda M. Woolf Office Hours: By appointment; 301 Webster Hall. Phone: 968-7062 or 968-6970 woolflm@webster.edu Woolf Web Page: http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/

Course Description:

What if a bomb was known to be ready to detonate in a city and you had in custody the person who had planted the bomb. It is acceptable to torture that person as a means to get the information on the location of the bomb? What if you only suspect the person of having such information? Is torture still acceptable? If you think torture is unacceptable, are other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment that fall short of physical torture acceptable? And what if your job mandated being involved, directly or indirectly, with highly coercive interrogations and torture - what would you do? And is torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment an effective strategy to obtain information? Could you torture another human being? These are the sorts of questions we will address in this course.

In this course, we will examine the various definitions of torture, the international and domestic law concerning torture, the impact of torture on survivors, the effectiveness of torture as a means to obtain information, the role of various professions in torture, and the path to making torture acceptable to both torturers and an entire culture including the ethics of such a journey. Finally, as a case study, we will examine the journey of the American Psychological Association as it attempts to address the ethical role of psychologists in highly coercive interrogations.

Course Objectives and Outcomes:

1. Objective: To explore various definitions of "torture" and "cruel, inhuman or degrading" (CID) as grounded in both international/domestic law and the research literature.
   Outcome: Students will be able to articulate various definitions of torture and CID and discuss the benefits and limitations associated with each definition.

2. Objective: To become familiar with various United Nations (UN) documents and conventions related to the topic of torture and other CID treatment or punishment such as the UN Convention Against Torture and the UN Principles of Medical Ethics relevant to the Role of Health Personnel, particularly Physicians, in the Protection of Prisoners and Detainees against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
   Outcome: Students will be able to discuss the main points associated with each of these documents and conventions.

3. Objective: To become more knowledgeable about the various types of torture and other CID treatment or punishment including both physical and psychological forms of torture and other CID treatment or punishment. To become familiar about the effects of such treatment on an individual, both short and long term.
   Outcome: Students will know the various types of torture and other CID treatment or punishment, both physical and psychological, and students will be able to discuss both the short and long terms effects of torture or other CID treatment or punishment on an individual both physically and psychologically.

4. Objective: To examine the research literature concerning the utilitarian arguments for or against torture as means to effectively obtain information.
   Outcome: Students will be able to discuss the research finding concerning the usefulness of torture as a means to obtain information.

5. Objective: To explore and evaluate the various cultural factors which may play a role in acceptance of torture and other CID treatment or punishment and the path to the creation of an "official" torturer.
   Outcome: Students will be able to discuss the psychological and sociological research concerning the creation of a culture accepting of torture and the steps leading individuals to participate in socially-sanctioned torture.

6. Objective: To explore the media reports of psychologists' involvement in torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment at detention centers for foreign detainees and the ethics of such involvement. To explore the various current and future responses of the American Psychological Association in response to such reports.
   Outcome: Students will be able to discuss the issue of torture, ethics, and professional responsibility using the issue of psychologists' involvement in coercive interrogations and the APA's response as a case study.

Readings (Note - Many of these are just 1 or 2 pages long):

These are all available through eReserves in PDF format at http://ereserves.webster.edu/eres/courseindex.aspx?error=&page=instr

• Annas, G. J. (2005). Unspeakably cruel--Torture, medical ethics, and the law. New England Journal of Medicine, 352, 2127-2132.

• Arrigo, J. M. (2004). A utilitarian argument against torture interrogation of terrorists. Science and Engineering Ethics, 10(3), 1-30.

• Behnke, S. (2006). Psychological ethics and national security: The position of the American Psychological Association. European Psychologist, 11, 153-155.

• Benjamin, M. (2006, August 4). Psychologists group still rocked by torture debate. Salon.

• Correia, I., Vala, J., & Aguiar, P. (2001). The effects of belief in a just world and victim's innocence on secondary victimization, judgments of justice and deservingness. Social Justice Research, 14, 327-342

• Farberman, R. (2005). 'A stain on medical ethics': Comment. Lancet, 366, 712.

• Hanscom, K. L. (2001). Treating survivors of war trauma and torture. American Psychologist, 56, 1032-1039.

• Haritos-Fatouros, M. (1988). The official torturer: A learning model for obedience to the authority of violence. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 18, 1107-1120.

• Hovens, J. E., & Drozdek, B. (2002). The terror of torture: A continuum of evil. In C. E. Stout (Ed.), The psychology of terrorism (Vol. 2, pp. 75-104). Westport, CT: Praeger.

• Human Rights Learning Centre (2006). Study guide on torture, inhuman or degrading treatment. Retrieved July 4, 2006, from http://www.hrea.org/learn/guides/torture.html.

• Human Rights Watch. (2004). The legal prohibition against torture. Human Rights News. Retrieved July 4, 2006, from http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/11/TortureQandA.htm.

• Kordon, D. (1998). Impunity's psychological effects: Its ethical consequences. Journal of Medical Ethics, 17(S), 29-32.

• Levin, M. (1990). Torture and other extreme measures taken for the general good: Further reflections on a philosophical problem. In P. Suedfeld (Ed.), Psychology and torture (pp. 89-98). New York: Hemisphere.

• Mayer, J. (2005). The experiment. New Yorker, 81(20). Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/050711fa_fact4.

• Wantchekon, L., & Healy, A. (1999). The "game" of torture. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 43, 596-609.

• Wilks, M. (2005). A stain on medical ethics. Lancet, 366, 429-431.

• Woolf, L. M. (2005). Psychologists, coercive interrogations, and torture. Peace Psychology, 14(2), 1, 28-29.

• Woolf, L. M., & Hulsizer, M. R. (2005). Torture? But this is different! Peace Psychology, 14(2), 3-4.

• Woolf, L. M. (2007, Sept. 1). A sad day from psychologists: A sadder day for human rights. OpEdNews.com/CounterPunch. Retrieved from http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/print_friendly.php?p=opedne_linda_m__070901_a_sad_day_for_psycho.htm

Other Documents to be Examined in Class:

• APA Presidential Task Force on Psychological Ethics and National Security Final Report (The PENS Report) (http://www.webster.edu/peacepsychology/PENSTaskForceReportFinal.pdf).

• APA 2006 Resolution Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (http://www.webster.edu/peacepsychology/2006ResolutionTorture.html).

• 2007 Reaffirmation of the American Psychological Association Position Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and Its Application to Individuals Defined in the United States Code as "Enemy Combatants" (http://www.apa.org/governance/resolutions/councilres0807.html

• McCain Amendment: Amendment No. 1977 HR 2863, the Defense Appropriations Bill of 2006 introduced by Senator John McCain (http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2005_record&docid=cr05oc05-19).

• United Nations Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners (http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/basicprinciples.htm).

• United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/h_cat39.htm).

• United Nations Principles of Medical Ethics relevant to the Role of Health Personnel, particularly Physicians, in the Protection of Prisoners and Detainees against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/h_comp40.htm).

• United Nations Principles on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/investigation.htm).

• United Nations Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. (http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/torture/rapporteur/).

• The World Medical Association Declaration of Tokyo. Guidelines for Physicians Concerning Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in Relation to Detention and Imprisonment (http://www.wma.net/e/policy/c18.htm).

Class Meetings:

Weekend format: 5:50-9:30 p.m. Friday, April 4 and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday April 12. Attendance in mandatory.

Course Requirements:

An in-class quiz, a final take-home exam, a short paper, and class participation/discussion.

All grades will be assigned on a scale of 0 - 10 with:

90 - 100	A-,A	Excellent
80 - 89	B-,B,B+	Above Average
70 - 79	C-,C,C+	Average
60 - 69	D-,D,D+	Below Average
Less than 60	F	Failing

Percent of Grade:

Final Exam	60%
Quiz	20%
Short paper	15%
Class participation/Discussion	5%

Examinations: The in-class quiz will include multiple choice, matching, and short answer. The final exam will be take-home and include short answer and essay.

Policy: The final exam will be due one week following the completion of the course (April 19, 2008) and must be emailed in Word format to woolflm@webster.edu

Short Paper: The purpose of the paper is to provide you with the opportunity to explore an area related to the issue of ethics and torture in more depth. The paper is to be a 3-5 page related to the issue of ethics and torture and will constitute 15% of your final grade.

Policy: Topics must be approved by the instructor. Directions for topic submission will be discussed during the class on Saturday. Topics that have not been approved will not be accepted. Deadline for acceptance of papers is April 30, 2008. Note: This deadline is not a suggestion; papers accepted following the deadline will experience a drop in grade(s) except in cases of emergency discussed with the instructor.

Papers must be submitted electronically in Word format to woolflm@webster.edu

Class Participation & Discussion: Please realize that your participation in this class is extremely important. As such, class participation will constitute 5 percent of your final grade. The participation grade will derive from active discussion and analysis both in class and via the class listserv. Attendance alone is not enough to qualify for participation points.

Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact me or the Director of the Academic Resource Center, as soon as possible to ensure that such accommodations can be implemented in a timely fashion.

Policy Statements:

Plagiarism (attempting to pass off the work of another as one's own) is not acceptable. Plagiarism includes copying all or part of another's writings (even a single sentence), inappropriate paraphrasing, using another student's paper as your own, submitting a paper for more than one class. All papers will be submitted to the university's plagiarism database for review. Plagiarism, either intentional or unintentional, will result in a grade of 0 for that assignment and will be turned over to the appropriate university source for disciplinary action. In addition, cheating on exams will also result in the same fate.

Here are some Web sites that will help you avoid the problem of plagiarism particularly plagiarism resulting from paraphrasing too closely to the original source. -

• Establishing Authorship by Paul C. Smith, Alverno College

• How to Avoid Plagiarism Tutorial

• The University of Indiana's Online Plagiarism Tutorial - You can print out a certificate of completion!

Students are expected to arrive at class meetings having already read the material assigned, and to ask questions to clarify any areas that remain unclear. While every attempt will be made to explain or expand upon particularly difficult areas, the primary purpose of classroom lecture is to enhance, rather than to duplicate, the readings.

Late withdraws from this class will not be approved by the instructor except in cases of emergency discussed with the instructor. No late withdraws will be approved on the basis of poor class performance.

This syllabus is subject to change at the instructor's discretion. All changes concerning course requirements will be provided in writing. Changes concerning exam dates may be made at the instructor's discretion and communicated verbally to the class.

It is understood that remaining in this course (not dropping or withdrawing from this course) constitutes an agreement to abide by the terms outlined in this syllabus and an acceptance of the requirements outlined in this document.