Summary Of On Killing By Grossman

Grossman is a former U.S. Army member holding several different titles through his career, and now a psychologist specializing in the study of killing, and has taken the role of countless other civilian roles. In his publication, “On Killing”, Grossman attempts to reveal to the audience the factors that are taken into account by the individual, and by the forces training him while killing another human being. He also expresses how the use of violent media and violent video games is indiscriminately condition’s our nation’s children. (pg. xxxii) This book review will cover topics such as: the basic dynamics of killing a fellow soldier, the process soldiers go through to confront trauma, and the relationship between warfare and sex.
This book
The shear resistance to killing an enemy combatant has been known to be so strong that individuals fail to fire before they themselves are killed. Grossman recognizes “The Milgram Factors” as the influential variables that push individuals to kill. These three variables are the demands of authority, group absolution, and the distance from the victim. The demands of the authority push soldiers to fire even when they don’t want to, in a way it allows the soldier to place the blame of killing on the authority figure as they ordered the killing. For this to work, four sub-factors must be met, these factors consist of, proximity of the authority, the respect had for the authority, the intensity of their demands, and the legitimacy of the authority. If one of these four sub-factors are questioned, the effectiveness of the authority figures demands will be compromised. Group absolution works to increase fire rates by trapping soldiers in a Catch-22, “If he overcomes his resistance to killing and kills an enemy soldier in close combat, he will be forever burdened with blood guilt, and if he elects not to kill, then the blood guilt of his fallen comrades…” (Pg. 86). However, it also works to “reduce one’s sense of personal guilt.” When a group is joined in the act of killing the soldiers lose some of their personal identification and assume the actions of the entire group. The distance from the victim takes form in several different ways. This distance can be physical, mechanical, cultural, social, or moral. Nonetheless, these distances provide the same kind of solace for the soldier, it allows them to disconnect from the human aspect of their target and follow through with the