Killology is the study of the psychological and physiological effects of combat on humans. The term was invented by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman ret. in his 1995 book On Killing.

Claims

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Grossman's theory, based on the World War Two research of S.L.A. Marshall, is that most of the population deeply resists killing another human.

Modern military training allegedly overrides this instinct, by:

• using man-shaped targets instead of bulls-eye targets
• practicing and drilling how soldiers would actually fight
• dispersing responsibility for the killing throughout the group
• displacing responsibility for the killing onto an authority figure, i.e. the commanding officer and the military hierarchy. (See the Milgram experiment)

By the time of the Vietnam, says Grossman, 90 per cent of U.S. soldiers would fire their weapons at other people.

The act of killing is psychologically traumatic for the killer, even more so than constant danger or witnessing the death of others.

Grossman further argues that violence in television, movies and video games contributes to real-life violence by a similar process of training and desensitization.

In The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace (Grossman's sequel to On Killing, based on ten years of additional research and interviews) he addresses the psychology and physiology of human aggression.

External links

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• Killology.com
• Law enforcement and medical criticism of Grossman
• SLA Marshall's faking of Grossman's underlying research
• Grossman and Marshall
• Grossman's attempt to defend himself and possible mis-use of the Korean War

Military education and training

Killologie