"On Killing II: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill"

• The Psychological Consequences of Killing: Perpetration-Induced Traumatic Stress..........An Overview
• The Universal Human Phobia.........Fear itself is seldom a cause of trauma in everyday peacetime existence, but facing close-range interpersonal aggression is a traumatizing experience of an entirely different magnitude.
• A Resistance to Killing..........Indeed, from a psychological perspective, the history of warfare can be viewed as a series of successively more effective tactical and mechanical mechanisms to enable or force combatants to overcome their resistance to killing.
• Overcoming the Resistance..........operant conditioning is the only technique which will reliably influence the primitive, midbrain processing of a frightened human being.
• PTSD and the Price of Conditioning..........Conditioning which overrides such a powerful, innate resistance has enormous potential for psychological backlash.
• Only Anxiety is Forbidden..........In an extreme fear situation the midbrain reaches up and takes hold of the forebrain.
• You Are Only as Sick as Your Secrets..........“You see there are two things that men will often lie about."
• Conclusion: An Application to PTSD Resulting from Killing..........We have seen that military and law enforcement organizations around the world have initiated a powerful conditioning process, through military combat training, that has enabled combatants to bypass the resistance to killing.

"Acerca de Matar II: El costo psicológico de Aprender a Matar" en español (PDF)
Traducción: Roberto Hoyos
http://www.rhoyos.com/

References:

• American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed.). Revised. Washington, D.C.: Author.
• American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
• Ardant du Picq, C. (1946). Battle studies. Harrisburg, PA: Telegraph Press.
• Belenke, G. (1996). Presentation to U.S.M.C. and U.S. Navy personnel, Camp Lejeune, NC.
• Gabriel, R. A. (1986). Military Psychiatry: A Comparative Perspective. New York: Greenport Press.
• Gabriel, R. A. (1987). No More Heroes: Madness and Psychiatry in War. New York: Hill and Wang.
• Griffith, P. (1989). Battle Tactics of the American Civil War. Yale University Press.
• Grossman, D. (2000). "Aggression and violence." The Oxford Companion to American Military History. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Holmes, R. (1985). Acts of War: The Behavior of Men in Battle. New York: Free Press.
• Keegan, J., and R. Holmes. (1985). Soldiers. London: Guild Publishing. Marshall, S
  

ARTICLE CONTINUES  . . .

Jump to any section of this article: Select an article section The Psychological Consequences of Killing The Universal Human Phobia A Resistance to Killing Overcoming the Resistance PTSD and the Price of Conditioning Only Anxiety is Forbidden You Are Only as Sick as Your Secrets Conclusion Glossary of Terms

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