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On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society
On Killing The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society Author:Lt. Col. Dave Grossman "Powerfully argued...Full of arresting observations and insights...Mr. Grossman's case is too carefully presented, too well grounded in actual observation, not to be taken very seriously...His most incisive passages are those in which he describes the conditions under which the willingness to kill becomes greater." -Richard Bernstein, New York T... more »imes
The good news is that most soldiers are loath to kill. But armies have developed sophisticated ways of overcoming that instinctive aversion. The psychological cost for soldiers, as evidenced by the increase in post-traumatic stress, is devastating. The psychological cost for the rest of us is even greater: contemporary civilian society, particularly the media, replicates the army's conditioning techniques and directly contributes to our rising rate of violent crime, especially among the young.
This landmark study-now updated to encompass suicide bombings, school shootings, twenty-first century military conflicts, recent trends in crime, and more brilliantly illuminates the techniques the military uses to help soldiers kill and raises vital questions about the implications of escalating violence in our society.« less