An organizational scandal in psychology: social representations of Hoffman Report in Europe

This paper features the European perspective on the Hoffman Report, primarily a North American issue which has had an impact on European professionals, given the position of APA as a source of ethical guidelines and publication standards. Applying the theory of social representations of Serge Moscovici, the processes of anchoring and objectification serve as interpretative tools in the case study of the perception of the Hoffman Report in Europe. The semiotic triangle guides the exploration of communicative and instrumental. In November 2014, the American Psychological Association (APA) Board of Directors engaged attorney David Hoffman to conduct an independent review of whether there was any factual support for the assertion that APA engaged in activity that would constitute collusion with the Bush Administration to promote, support or facilitate the use of “enhanced” interrogation techniques by the United States in the war on terror. After eight months of investigation, the law firm has produced a 542-page report (known as Hoffman Report) stating that the intent of the individuals who participated in the collusion was to “curry favour” with the Defense Department and that may have enabled the government’s use of abusive interrogation techniques (Hoffman, 2015 Hoffman, D. (2015, November). Independent review report. Retrieved from