Product Description

The good news is that the vast majority of soldiers are loath to kill in battle. Unfortunately, modern armies, using Pavlovian and operant conditioning have developed sophisticated ways of overcoming this instinctive aversion. The psychological cost for soldiers, as witnessed by the increase in post-traumatic stress, is devastating. The psychological cost for the rest of us is even more so: contemporary civilian society, particularly the media, replicates the army's conditioning techniques and, according to Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's thesis, is responsible for our rising rate of murder among the young. Upon its first publication, ON KILLING was hailed as a landmark study of the techniques the military uses to overcome the powerful reluctance to kill, of how killing affects the soldier, and of the societal implications of escalating violence. Now, Grossman has updated this classic work to include information on 21st-century military conflicts, recent crime rates, suicide bombings, school shootings, and much more. The result is a work that is sure to be relevant and important for decades to come.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18836 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

From the Author
The PAWNS know the TRUTH about the GAME, this is THEIR tale.
If you are a virgin preparing for your wedding night, or if you or your partner are having sexual difficulties, or if you are just curious ... then there are hundreds of scholarly books on the topic of sexuality available to you. But if you are a young (virgin) soldier or law enforcement officer anticipating your baptism of fire, or if you are a veteran (or the spouse of a veteran) who is troubled by killing experiences, or if you are just curious ... then, on this topic, there has been absolutely nothing available in the way of scholarly study or writing. Until now...

Review and comments on On Killing by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman:

...well written on a subject that has never before, to my knowledge, been drafted for public consumption.
General W.C. Westmoreland

...illuminating account of how soldiers learn to kill and how they live with the experience of having killed...This book concludes with an impassioned plea for regulating media violence through social censure and pressure. This surely, is a sensible and welcome recommendation.
Washington Post

An excellent book.
Dr. Joyce Brothers, in her nationally syndicated column

An important book that should be read by anyone in the profession of arms and by anyone concerned about violence in our Nation.
Marine Corps Gazette

On Killing is destined to become a classic.
Army (Journal of the Association of the U.S Army)

A tremendous book.
Peace Magazine

...both disturbing and oddly reassuring ... a valuable contribution, full of arresting observations and insights of the sort that make you alter the way you have thought about certain subjects, most notably the nature of battle and the dramatic rise in the murder rate that has taken place in the United States in the last two decades...powerful...persuasive...incisive...Grossmans case is too carefully presented, too well grounded in actual observations, not to be taken seriously.
New York Times

...a provocative look at how and why we kill...One can only hope On Killing has not arrived too late.
Stars and Stripes

...truly revolutionary.
Dr. Eduardo D. Faingold, Argentine and Israeli combat veteran,Assistant Professor of Spanish, Dept. of Languages, University of Tulsa

I want to congratulate you on your book. It is important both as research and as an argument for acknowledging the violence in our society and its roots.
George Levenson, Ph.D., Director of Informed Democracy

Colonel Grossman¹s perceptive study ends with a profoundly troubling observation. The desensitizing techniques used to train soldiers are now found in mass media -- films, television, video arcades -- and are conditioning our children. His figures on youthful homicides strongly suggest the breeding of teenage Rambos.
William Manchester, author and WWII vet

MAGNIFICENT!
Paddy Griffith, Sandhurst history professor and author of Battle Tactics of the American Civil War and Forward into Battle.

...brilliant...a fine and necessary piece of work.
Arthur Hadley, author of Straw Giant

...a splendid book...it establishes a new line of scholarly inquiry, which is a remarkable achievement.
Bill Lind, author of The Maneuver Warfare Handbook, Free Congress Foundation Fellow, and co-host of Modern War (a national cable TV show)

I enjoyed (if that is the right word to use) On Killing enormously, congratulations on a fine piece of work.
Richard Holmes, author of Acts of War and Sandhurst History Professor

...honest, gutsy, patient disclosure of what¹s happening to our military kids -- and civilian kids as well.
F. Andy Carhartt, West Point class of Œ45, Presbyterian minister

It is very good, thoughtful and helpful on a subject of great importance. Humanistic and pacifistic in the way of the best soldiers.
Dr. Ted Nadelson, Chief of Psychiatry, Boston VA Medical Center.

...my deep appreciation for your book...because it said so many things I had felt were probably so, and because, also, it said so many new things.
Dr. Lloyd Gardner, the Charles and Mary Beard Professor at Rutgers

...this systematic examination of the individual soldier¹s behavior, like all good scientific theory making, leads to a series of useful explanations for a variety of phenomena...This important book deserves a wide readership. Essential for all libraries serving military personnel or veterans, including most public libraries.
Library Journal, Starred Review

...a provocative new book...the first scientific examination of how and why men kill in battle.
Little Rock Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

...an explosive look at why there is so much killing not just in wars but in modern society...it is a must read. I recommend it highly. His research...is frightening, and should be a wake-up call to society. I couldn¹t put it down.
Walt Gochenour, WWII vet, in 82d Airborne Division Association Journal

A study of relevance to a society of escalating violence.
Publishers Weekly

...excellent explications of what goes through a soldier¹s mind during war.
Portland Oregonian

I congratulate you on writing an important book which I find very helpful in understanding the human condition. Indeed, it serves to greatly increase my belief in the basic goodness of my fellow man.
Ladislav R. Hanka

I am thankful for work like yours which promotes the slow but very sure process of maturation which I see occurring in the collective human race.
Alison Wilson, Ontario, Canada

I very much appreciate your challenging and perceptive look at warfare and the act of killing. You are right that it is a taboo topic in our culture. As a long time antiwar activist it was palpably painful to read; never-the-less I valued the information and discussions.
Gregory W. Frux, Brooklyn, NY

On Killing may be the On War of the 21st Century.
Michael Anton Laurano, Attorney at Law, Boston, Massachutetts

My sincere congratulations on your extremely interesting book. Besides the subject itself with all its implications for civil society and military establishments, my wife and I were most impressed with your balanced and broad presentation. The fact that a professional military can write for the widest spectrum of political and moral persuasions with conviction and tolerance speaks highly of your intellectual and human qualities...It is a fact that all the modern media everywhere, but particularly those in the Latin American subcontinents, are under the good and bad influence of the American products for the movies, TV, video games, etc. Even though the local levels of violence do not reach yet those prevailing in the worse derelict areas of large American cities, the trend is clear and points in the same direction. We hope that a translation of your book will soon be available for the benefit of Spanish speaking readers.
Herman Schwember, PhD, writing from Chile

My deepest congratulations on what I believe to be an extremely important book. I salute your bravery, courage and insight. Your work is indispensable for our future.
Bob Hughes, Chevy Chase, MD

Thanks for writing On Killing and being so straightforward in stating your case. It is a compelling, profoundly moving book. I am recommending it to my friends and at all my speaking engagements. Also, my sons, now 13 and 15, will be encouraged to read it as they get into their later teens and tackle coming-of-age personal issues.And thank you for caring and compassion. You may be a trained killer, but your life journey has crafted you into a warrior with heart -- the kind of male hero we need a lot more of in our society.
Gloria DeGaetano, National Speaker and Expert on Media Literacy,Author of Screen Smarts

For Further Information or Speaking EngagementsContact Colonel Grossman at:
The Killology Institute
END

About the Author
A former army Ranger and paratrooper, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman taught psychology at West Point and was the professor of Military Science at Arkansas State

Customer Reviews

Combat is not like the movies!
To read Grossman's gripping study of killing in a military environment requires a degree of courage from the readers. In fact, those Vietnam colleagues who are not travelling well may be better off not reading this book for it peels back the psychological layers of training to kill, and then the guilt that has been generated from being part of the harvesting of the body count. Importantly, the author recognises that Vietnam was different, for a variety of reasons, to any other war that we have fought.

Grossman has impeccable credentials. He rose from the rank of private to lieutenant colonel and served in the 82nd Airborne, 7th Infantry Division and the U.S. Rangers and as a psychology professor at West Point.

After the Second World War, the British and Americans studied the phenomenon of non-firers. American studies confirmed that in battles on 15-20% of the troops fired to kill. In some situations where several riflemen were together firing at the enemy, others in the group would take on supporting roles (getting ammunition, tending the wounded etc.). There was a conspiracy of silence over the non-firers and those involved in a conspiracy to miss, even when their lives were endangered. The British confirmed that among the Argentinean troops in the Falklands, there was a similar rate of non-firers.

However, by the time of the Vietnam War, training techniques had been changed and the firing rates were around 95%. Herein lies the root of the problem. As a result of the non-firers, training methods were re-designed to remove the moral dilemma of taking human lives. Recruits were trained to shoot body shaped targets, not bullseyes and recruits were rewarded for "kills". At Puckapunyal (Recruit Training, Australia), recruits for Vietnam were instructed to aim for the chest, so if the enemy doesn't die they become a burden for their medical support teams. Bayonet training, which had probably remained unchanged for over 100 years, was designed to massively damage the enemy soldier's abdominal-thoracic region with a steel instrument possessing two specifically designed blood grooves. And, as the RDI said, "If you are unlucky enough to bayonet the enemy in the head and can't get your bayonet out, discharge a round and it should split the head open." In, out, on guard! Kill, kill! The NCOs and officers job in combat remains to get the troops to kill. I cannot agree with Grossman's observation that British officers do their jobs better because of the class distinction between themselves and their men, which allowed them to make more objective decisions (p. 168). The "fragging" phenomenon in Vietnam occurred because of this perceived indifference to the suffering of the troops.

Killing another human being is not a natural act, contrary to what the movies would have us believe. Grossman argued that only 2% of the troops are natural killers (psychopaths/sociopaths), the others need a variety of support strategies to overcome the feeling of guilt that eventually emerge. Perhaps a strongpoint of this book is the excellent diagrams, which capture the essence of key points in this treatise. The diagram showing the predisposition to kill (p.188) is a good example of Grossman's clarity of thought. He shows that the demands of authority, training and conditioning, experience, target attractiveness and group support all come into play before the trigger is pulled.

So, what made Vietnam different to previous and subsequent wars? Firstly, the training was different and the re-socialisation of recruits, particularly those conscripted into the military, was designed to make certain that the troops would kill. The troop rotations generally had new members of units arriving and leaving as individuals, thus denying them the support and absolutions for what they had taken part in. Thirdly, there was no safe rear area and troops had to be battle ready always. The Swank and Marchand research of 1946 showed that after 25 days troops suffered combat exhaustion, with a reduction in their effectiveness and ending after 50 days in a vegetative phase. Fourthly, the lack of support from the home communities turned many Vietnam veterans into pariahs and it took over a decade to begin this dreadful oversight. As a result, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) manifested itself in many returning troops who often left Vietnam and were expected to be civilians again within 12 hours. It was interesting that the British sent troops home from the Falklands by boat to overcome this specific problem.

For me, this book was an interesting read, but importantly it made me understand myself a little better.

Neil MacNeill, 31 Charlie.

profound exploration of a taboo subject
As both a psychiatrist and the daughter of a combat veteran, I am struck by the depth and honesty of this book. LtCol. Grossman's work has allowed me to understand things that previously baffled me, regarding both human nature and my own family dynamics. People who ask, "Why are American children killing each other?" should be directed to read this book.

probably the most definitive authority on PTSD
This book has been an excellent source in my research as an aspiring Military Anthropologist. Grossman's attention to details of associative learning (notably the role of the Drill SGT) during recruit training plus the behavioural changes which take place as a foreseeable result of transforming from Civilian to Soldier (whilst performing within the "Theatre of Operations")are quite astonishing. His anaysis of Ivan's Pavlov and B.F Skinner's psychological models are also impressive.

In short, this is a must-have for anyone interested in undertaking research in combat stress and PTSD within the context of the Modern Western Soldier. I particularly recommend this book as a tool for Vietnam research.