To the Editors:

The debate on the situation of Argentinian psychoanalysts continues in the Newsletter of April, 1979. The Newsletter also mentions the referendum on the Equal Rights Amendment. These are, undisputedly, important human issues and justifiedly concern many of us. However, I believe the American Psychoanalytic Association must soon decide whether it is going to continue to take an official stand on social and political issues. Although the situation of the analysts in Argentina may be regarded as a professional matter, I believe that the ERA is a social issue.

If we are going to take an official stand on social issues then logically we ought to protest all violations of human rights. To do less would be hypocritical. The conditions of blacks and migratory workers, for example, are no less deplorable than those of women. Amnesty International has evidence of thousands of political prisoners incarcerated in dozens of countries. What should the American do about all this social misery?

I believe that if the American continues to deal with social issues it will find itself increasingly embroiled in debates that are not germane to its scientific mission. Far from dismissing social issues as unimportant, I suggest that concerned analysts, as other citizens, individually or in non-affiliated groups, express their views as usefully and appropriately as they wish. Indeed, it is probably more meaningful for individuals to commit themselves to social issues directly rather than by merely acquiescing to statements made by the Executive Council.

History shows that scientific organizations have been sapped and exploited by involvement in the social arena. Articulate and assertive factions soon become powerful and use the organization for their own interests. To forestall such a development the American should air this matter more fully until a firm consensus is reached.

David S. Werman

Durham, North Carolina