There are many similarities concerning ethical responsibilities between psychologists and medical professionals. A contrasting difference in ethics that received attention for discussion was considering interrogation rules in participating in matters involving detainees. The American Medical Association states “Physicians must not conduct, directly participate in, or monitor an interrogation with an intent to intervene, because this undermines the physician’s role as healer…humane and respect the rights of individuals.” (American Medical Association, 2015) In contrast, the APA allows for consulting to individual interrogations with intent of intervening. The Psychology profession agrees to demands of government more leniently than the AMA.
The AMA enforces strong emphasis on following the profession ethical code and that state authority is not an excuse to disobey. The APA had formed a new standard following the September 2001 attack, which gave its professionals ability to follow governmental instructions even if they do not completely agree with psychological ethics. This difference between the two professions has created a special role for psychologists in detainee interrogations (Pope & Gutheil, 2009). However, many psychologists in the field have shown a negative opinion towards the standard, its unethical methods, and possibility of inflicting abuse in such situations. Controversial beliefs rose when it was reported that military interrogations with assistance by psychologists were carrying out torture-like acts. All in all, there appears to be a unique relationship in psychological ethics and government laws that differ by other professions of the AMA.
