Psychologists could torture because they have no Hippocratic oath | Garrett Koren

It would have been out of the question for a physician to participate in torture. For psychologists, this was a subject for debate

It should come as no surprise that the architects of the CIA's enhanced torture program were psychologists and not psychiatrists. During my psychiatry residency in the federal prison system, there was one divide between doctors and prison guards that could not be crossed: I was exempt from firearms training. The psychologists in my cohort, however, were required to achieve proficiency on the shooting range like any other correctional officer.

Prison psychologists do not walk around with guns during their normal routines. However, in a crisis situation such as a riot or an escape, they would be obligated to obtain a gun from storage and be prepared to use it. It's entirely possible that a psychologist who had been listening to an inmate pouring out their heart out one day, could be in the position of having to open fire on that very same person the next.