Military Applications

1. Military Applications Ethical Issues PY3

2. 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?

3. 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

4. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications What contribution has psychology made? • Explaining warfare • Participating in warfare/military objectives • The effects of warfare Separate your notes into these sections

5. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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.

6. Watch clip

7. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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)

8. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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

9. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications Sigmund Freud 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

10. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications • 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 emotional The more rational- eventually the more pacifist

11. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications Bowlby (1938) • aggression constant feature across time and history-combination of evolutionary pressures and psychodynamics • 4 causes • Possession • Frustration • Arrival of strangers • 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 • Catharsis-forces build to a release of energy ( Freudian) • Thresholds- there are periods of gradual and sudden change ( evolutionary)

12. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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

13. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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?

14. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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

15. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications Use of animals Skinner 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)

16. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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

17. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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.

18. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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)

19. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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

20. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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!

21. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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?

22. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications • 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?

23. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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

24. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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.

25. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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

26. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications Psychological processes in propaganda • - Yale study group • Learning theory • Sleeper effect • Selective attention • Principles of persuasion Advertising is propaganda!

27. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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

28. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications Obtaining cultural info to influence Vietnamese e.g. targeted grieving practices 49/100 days after major battles research into cultural differences in disgust and smell stink bombs were used to flush out guerrillas -smell of cooking fat- Burma Gave 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

29. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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 parts Re experiencing/avoidance or numbing/increased arousal Delayed, cyclic even 50 yrs later-study WW2 vets Hunt (1997) Not just soldiers but civilians

30. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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.

31. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications • 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.

32. PY3 Ethical Issues Military Applications 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