Military Applications Ethical Issues PY3. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications Is war wrong? Spend 5 minutes discussing with a couple of friends whether

Military Applications

Ethical Issues PY3

PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications

Is war wrong?• Spend 5 minutes discussing with a couple

of friends whether you think war is wrong.• In all situations?• Does it depend what is at stake?• Should there be rules of engagement?• Is this a question psychologists should be

concerned with?

Power point objectives

The purpose of this power point is to:

• Introduce to you ideas about ethics and warfare but particularly the involvement of psychologists in warfare

• Describe to you some studies that have been undertaken regarding warfare

• Help you discuss if these studies are reliable, valid and ethical


What contribution has psychology made?

1. Explaining warfare

2. Participating in warfare/military objectives

3. The effects of warfare

Separate your notes into these sections


1. EXPLAINING WARFARE• war and peace seem to be part of

the human condition • for most of us it is “ acted out” on

TV and so getting a grip on the reality of it is difficult but for others it is very real

• The media show us amusing or heroic stories but it is neither

• Most modern warfare is a combination of days of boredom and short bursts of terrifying action

• Warfare changes over time and has cultural aspects to it.

Watch clip


Is war is natural? Explaining Warfare.

• Evolutionary psychologists would agree that aggression has survival value and an adaptive purpose.

• But this rarely includes death( Not so adaptive!)• A range of ideas have been offered

Male competition (intra sexual selection)


William McDougall “The instinct of pugnacity”

• an eugenics enthusiast• survival of fittest- removes the weak• anthropological evidence- tribes in Borneo

were cited, those most aggressive had the best huts and showed survival qualities such as bravery

• The removal of war =degeneration of society

• If there is no war societies need selective breeding

• This was the basis of the 1920/30s Nazi campaign against Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, Catholics……..

• Not really an idea we would subscribe to today


In 1932 Freud started a correspondence with Einstein in which he outlined his thinking about warfare. ( As a Jew, Freud was exiled in London during WW2,Einstein another Jew also had plenty to say! )

Freud said:• communities can overthrow tyrants• communities can be aggressive to each other• some wars good-establish large empires• imposed order and peace• persecute minorities/civil liberties• league of nations/UN can play that role

Sigmund Freud


• Humans have 2 instincts• Conserve and unify/destroy and

kill

They can not suppress these instincts only divert them into warfare

People can be separated into leaders and the led -need to educate the elite to be more rational leaders and less emotionalThe more rational- eventually the more pacifist


Bowlby (1938)• aggression constant feature across

time and history-combination of evolutionary pressures and psychodynamics

• 4 causes1. Possession2. Frustration3. Arrival of strangers4. Attack of scapegoat• What we witness are defence

mechanisms-projection• What the Nazis feared most in

themselves they projected onto the Jews.

• But most nations peaceful most of the time

1. Catharsis-forces build to a release of energy ( Freudian)

2. Thresholds- there are periods of gradual and sudden change

( evolutionary)


Mead• anthropologist• Claimed war is not an inevitable part of

our nature• It is an invented institution like marriage ( also to protect property)• Eskimos (sic) are aggressive, even

cannibalistic but there is no war-there are also few or no possessions or property. They are mostly nomadic.

• Other nations could deal with conflict better

• There have been instances where conflict has been settled without war e.g. end of cold war/iron curtain/Cuban missile crisis


Summary• What do you think about these ideas?

• Are they reliable?

• Based on scientific evidence?

• Are they valid?

• Do they add anything to our understanding of warfare and human behaviour?


2. USES OF PSYCHOLOGY IN WAR

• up to 1960s it was all about human resources• mass IQ testing• psychometric testing- matching skills to jobs• staff welfare designing plane controls/sex ed for

soldiers


Use of animalsSkinner trained pigeons to navigate missiles

during WW2 They learnt to discriminate ships• never used as too unreliable

Sea gulls were also trained to detect submarines

• classical conditioning was used to shape their behaviour

• dogs and dolphins were trained during WW2 using psychological techniques to carry bombs and search danger zones

• dogs are used today like sniffer dogs to search dangerous buildings ( a dogs life is considered less valuable than a soldiers)


After 1960s • change of direction- power of

psychology realised by military.• think Guantanamo Bay and

rendition!• change of direction-psy ops

used to fight guerrilla fighters, terrorists

• Interested in the effects of captivity interrogation techniques and brain washing

• It is all very secret! Most info comes out of USA but by no means the only country using psy ops or the worst country

• Watson (1980) - reviewed 7,500 studies


Japanese prisoners of war study• Japanese not prepared for numbers so

guards left to develop own strategies/control

• POWs were crowded,dirty,there was no food and they were worked until died

• torture was common- beatings/stand in sun/pull out nails/prop eyelids open in sun

• Afterwards former POWs showed a lack of emotional response, were depressed, and had impaired memory and poor concentration

• A study of the effects of captivity, of physical hardship/brutality.

• Interesting for psychologists from both points of view- the guards and the prisoners.


Zimbardo (1970) Stanford Prison Study

• Linked to brutality of Japanese guards in WW2-not civilian prisons

• Prison simulation/ abandoned• funded by US navy• surprise arrest like

POW/hostage• Depersonalisation-hoods• creativity of guards• numbers not names

(POW)


Interrogation• in some armies military

offence to collaborate- not going to tell the enemy their secrets!

• torture not that effective• Soldiers trained to withstand

pain and die before they divulge anything

• Military now more interested in psychological techniques


Sensory Deprivation -Hebb study • Most Ps lasted 2 days one lasted 5

days • Very stressful• Experienced sensory distortions• Watson 1980- studied USA and

Canadian army’s use of SD• hallucinations• cant tell if awake• when released overwhelmed and

rather talkative and susceptible to propaganda!


Sensory Disorientation• Used by British army in NI

described by Shallice (1973) • Victims suffered disorientation

through-torture/sleep deprivation/drugs/hunger and sensory deprivation

• They were questioned/hooded/had to listen to loud white noise/stand for 16 hours/had beatings/were sleep deprived/and little food.

• Devastating effect on humans• Research is used to help

prepare soldiers/get enemies to talk-what if info saves lives?


• Write down your thoughts so far on this topic.

• How should psychologists be involved in warfare?

• Are psychological explanations of warfare meaningful and useful?

• What ethical issues are there with psychologists involvement in war?


Brain washing• Korean war 1950s• 7,000 US POWs- about

1/3 collaborated and made propaganda films for Koreans

• Harsh prison conditions- indoctrination sessions

• Many Americans died but none of Turkish did

• Why was this? Interesting to psychologists


Dr Vincent: Example of brainwashing

• French doctor working in China• Arrested and taken to a Chinese

Communist Party re education centre• Lifton (1960) descriptive study

• 3 year programme of brainwashing or re-education?? Depends on your view!

• Arrest • Depersonalisation• Struggle• Leniency• Loss of control• Study• Change

• Has modern application in training of terrorists in UK.


Propaganda

• Research into the process is difficult as hard to detect- the best propaganda is undetectable

• Includes mild distortions of already held views and persuasive stories. Psychological processes are important here such as perception, attention and attribution.

• Conducting cultural analysis- makes it more powerful -hit right buttons. Often psychologists do this in anthropological studies.

• Power lies in control of media-e.g.. Gulf War Hometown News Programme

• The USA in Iraq avoid estimates of Iraqi casualties

• Nazis and Jews- Jews were to blame for Germany’s economic problems

• British propaganda Germans ate babies, boiled enemies for soap, raped women


Psychological processes in propaganda • - Yale study group

1. Learning theory

2. Sleeper effect

3. Selective attention

4. Principles of persuasionAdvertising is propaganda!


psy ops

• US operations in Vietnam studied

• Was used against Vietnamese people

• encouraged defection in Vietnamese army

• over 7million leaflets/156000 posters/month 2000 hours of broadcasting

• stories of defected fighters


Obtaining cultural info to influence Vietnamesee.g. targeted grieving practices 49/100 days after major battlesresearch into cultural differences in disgust and smellstink bombs were used to flush out guerrillas-smell of cooking fat- BurmaGave away toothbrushes and toilets-win “Hearts and Minds” of the people

It has been rumoured that Barney the Dinosaur music was blasted at internees at Guantanamo Bay


3. EFFECTS OF WAR

• Report on nuclear war BPS (1985)

• Used to plan civil defence• One area of interest is Post

Traumatic Stress Disorder or what used to be called Shell Shock

• -3 partsRe experiencing/avoidance or

numbing/increased arousal

Delayed, cyclic even 50 yrs later-study WW2 vets Hunt (1997)

Not just soldiers but civilians


Summary- some questions to think about• Not enough in the exam to describe this/need to

discuss issues and processes• Questions likely to ask about ethical issues of use

of psychology in warfare• Moral justification of war is not really a

psychological issue• Uses of science in war to expedite/mediate the

effects are ethical issues discussed by psychologists

• Questions will ask you for two real life applications so this material will be worth 7.5 marks or 250 words.

• The other application we will look at is the media.


• Should psychologists promote peace or help humans deal with war better and may be shorten the length of it?

• American Psychological Association has branch of military psychology – is this a good thing?

• Military research attracts funding. Can lead to progresses in scientific endeavour/knowledge?

• Helps soldiers work conditions?• Cultural sensitivity itself is good- use of it isn't- can you

separate the research from it’s future use?• Is any research likely to be reliable given the arena in

which it is carried out?

• Complete a mind map of your thinking on these questions and the ethical issues of using psychology in warfare.


References

• Google for images• Banyard P and Flanagan C,2005 Ethical Issues

and Guidelines in Psychology. Routledge p89-96• Banyard P, 1999 Controversies in Psychology.

Routledge p11-29

Documents

Military Applications Ethical Issues PY3. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications Is war wrong? Spend 5 minutes discussing with a couple of friends whether