On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society

by Grossman, Dave; Grossman, Lt Col Dave | PB | Good
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Condition:
Good
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eBay item number:145759780082
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Item specifics

Condition
Good
A book that has been read but is in good condition. Very minimal damage to the cover including scuff marks, but no holes or tears. The dust jacket for hard covers may not be included. Binding has minimal wear. The majority of pages are undamaged with minimal creasing or tearing, minimal pencil underlining of text, no highlighting of text, no writing in margins. No missing pages. See all condition definitionsopens in a new window or tab
Seller Notes
“Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, ...
Binding
Paperback
Weight
0 lbs
Product Group
Book
IsTextBook
No
ISBN
9780316330114
Category

About this product

Product Identifiers

Publisher
Little Brown & Company
ISBN-10
0316330116
ISBN-13
9780316330114
eBay Product ID (ePID)
160345

Product Key Features

Book Title
On Killing : the Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society
Number of Pages
400 Pages
Language
English
Publication Year
1996
Topic
Sociology / General, Military / General
Illustrator
Yes
Genre
Social Science, History
Author
Dave Grossman
Format
Trade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height
1.1 in
Item Weight
12.7 Oz
Item Length
8.3 in
Item Width
5.4 in

Additional Product Features

Intended Audience
Trade
Dewey Edition
22
Dewey Decimal
355.001/9
Synopsis
The twentieth century, with its bloody world wars, revolutions, and genocides accounting for hundreds of millions dead, would seem to prove that human beings are incredibly vicious predators and that killing is as natural as eating. But Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman, a psychologist and U.S. Army Ranger, demonstrates this is not the case. The good news, according to Grossman - drawing on dozens of interviews, first-person reports, and historic studies of combat, ranging from Frederick the Great's battles in the eighteenth century through Vietnam - is that the vast majority of soldiers are loath to kill. In World War II, for instance, only 15 to 25 percent of combat infantry were willing to fire their rifles. The provocative news is that modern armies, using Pavlovian and operant conditioning, have learned how to overcome this reluctance. In Korea about 50 percent of combat infantry were willing to shoot, and in Vietnam the figure rose to over 90 percent. The bad news is that by conditioning soldiers to overcome their instinctive loathing of killing, we have drastically increased post-combat stress - witness the devastated psychological state of our Vietnam vets as compared with those from earlier wars. And the truly terrible news is that contemporary civilian society, particularly the media, replicates the army's conditioning techniques and - according to Grossman's controversial thesis - is responsible for our rising rates of murder and violence, particularly among the young. In the explosive last section of the book, he argues that high-body-count movies, television violence (both news and entertainment), and interactive point-and-shoot video games are dangerously similar to thetraining programs that dehumanize the enemy, desensitize soldiers to the psychological ramifications of killing, and make pulling the trigger an automatic response.
LC Classification Number
U22.3.G76 1996

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