Soldiers' Sense Making of Killing in Combat

SOLDIERS’ SENSE MAKING OF KILLING IN COMBAT: AN IN- TERPRETATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS Elio Martino A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Nottingham Trent University and Southampton Solent University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy April 2016 I Copyright Statement This work is the intellectual property of Elio Martino. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed in the owner(s) of the Intellectual Property Rights. II Abstract Within Military Psychology, there seems to be little scientific research looking at how soldiers experience and negotiate killing in combat. Whilst theories have suggested an innate, phobia like biological resistance to killing among humans (Grossman, 1995; Marshall, 1968), criticisms exist for this research, which range from contradictory, ambiguous re- sults, to a lack of methodological rigour (Engen, 2009; Murray, 2013; King, 2013). Gener- ally, the literature suggests that whilst not a universal phenomenon, there seem to be de- grees of resistance to killing amongst soldiers (Webber et al., 2013; Engen, 2008; Murray, 2013; King, 2013; Williams, 1999). This thesis addresses the gap in the literature, by ex- ploring how combat soldiers make sense of and negotiate killing in combat. Using an interpretative phenomenological approach, 7 autobiographies were selected from an initial list of 24 for study one, and 1 in depth semi-structured interview were analysed for study two, which elucidated the following themes: the warrior self, negotiating killing and death, group identity processes, decompression and validation to make sense of combat, and conflict to the self. In conclusion, negotiating killing in combat was found not to be grounded on an innate resistance, but rather a complex combination of sense making of the self, based on the role of the infantry soldier, with strong moral and legal guidelines, and a sense of justice, freedom and democracy. In this way, killing in combat was accepted when it fit into the way the individual made sense of their role and experiences. This thesis contributes to the underdeveloped field of killing in combat, by providing in- sight into the sense making of soldiers, and offers a detailed exploration of the warrior identity. This alternative way to study the phenomena experienced by soldiers in combat, has implications for evolving military, policy and strategy, specifically relating to the men- III tal health of combat soldiers both after the military, and in unique combat environment, such as piloting drones. Acknowledgements Like any one who comes from a strong matriarchal family, and wishes to survive the mo- ments after said family read these acknowledgements, I would like to thank the love and support of the three most important women in my life: Belinda Warriner, Rosa Martino and Stephanie Clayton. Without you, there is no way I would have completed, or indeed even began this PhD. For that you will always have my gratitude, as well as the very real, undoubtedly empty promises of one day being paid back. The phrase: ‘When you make plans, God laughs’ will give some indication behind the ex- traordinary circumstances that led to me being fortunate enough to have my Director of Studies Dr Lin Bailey and second Supervisor, Dr Brian Wink. Regardless of how it came to be, I could not have asked for a more supportive team, both emotionally and intellectual- ly. Through the incalculable man hours of scrutinising every word of every page I ever wrote, to the dozens of emails back and forth with pithy titles such as ‘Final revised edi- tion343-lin comments#12’ has undoubtedly helped craft what was once a passion, into a strong piece of evidence-based research. Dr. Lin Bailey especially has been ‘in the trench- es’ with me since day one, with not only my PhD, but with my time as an associate lectur- er. For this I will be forever in their debt, which fortunately for me, can only be classified as priceless. I owe Lt Col Dave Grossman a debt of gratitude for his work: On Killing, and On Combat, which introduced me to this fascinating area of study, which ultimately set my life path as a researcher within Military Psychology. Lt Col. Dave Grossman, an ex-serviceman and Psychologist, has contributed significantly to the research of killing in combat, specifically IV his work in Combat, which totally broke new ground in both describing physiological and Psychological changes, which has helped countless people in the military and police. It has been a pleasure to work in a field with such intellectuals (and many others noted throughout this thesis) who continuously pushing the envelope, undoubtedly bringing about incalculable improvements to both the military, soldiers and police officer lives. Many others have helped shaped my ability to be a better, more critical and fortunately for all of those reading, a more concise writer. Those include Stephanie Clayton, Joseph Wareham, David Schwartzman, Daniel Watson and James Steele. I would be negligent in not pausing to thank AM, my case study, who helped solidify some of the major concepts within this thesis, and who by a stoke a luck is a highly sensitive, introspective and well educated individual. Finally a special mention goes to Jacques, Petra and Can, three scholars, who both helped me remain confident that my work has both merit and applicability, within the modern day military. Elio Martino, April 2016. V Contents Abstract III Acknowledgements IV Contents VI Chapter 1 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Overview of the Thesis 1 1.2 Organisation of the Thesis 2 Chapter 2 10 Why Can’t Johnny Kill? An Introduction to Soldiers Killing in Combat 10 Marshall, the Rocky Foundation 11 2.1 Moving Beyond Ratios of Fire: An Innate Resistance 17 Evolutionary Psychology 19 Limitations of Grossman’s altruistic species theory 20 Non-firers in history 27 Limitations to Grossman’s theory of conflict avoidance 28 Proximity to killing, and dehumanisation 29 The closer you are, the easier it is to kill you: limitations to Grossman’s Proximity to Killing theory 32 Demands of Authority 38 The Art of Persuasion: An Alternative Explanation to Obedience to Authority 40 Trauma to killing 43 An Unspoken Desire to Be in Contact: A Modern Military Perspective 44 Is The Kill Legitimate? Another Look at Psychological Trauma in Combat 46 Chapter 3 52 How Can Johnny Kill? 52 3.1 Who Is Johnny? A Masculine Warrior Perspective 54 A Phenomenological approach 62 Chapter 4 64 Methodology 64 4.1 Introduction to the Methodology 64 4.2 Transparency in Conducting Scientific Inquiry 65 VI Epistemology 65 4.3: Introduction to IPA 66 4.4 Philosophical Underpinnings of IPA 68 Phenomenology 68 Hermeneutics 69 Ideography and sample size. 70 Summary of phenomenology, hermeneutics and ideography 72 4.5 Applying IPA to the Current Study 73 4.6 Autobiographies and In Depth Semi Structured Interview 80 4.7 Textual Data Search 82 4.8 Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria and List of Autobiographies 84 4.9 Study Two: Recruitment and Ethics for Semi Structured Interview 89 4.10 Semi-structured Interview and Interview Questions 96 Designing Interview Questions 98 4.11 Steps to Analysis Using IPA 101 Conducting High Quality IPA: rigour, reliability and validity 104 4.12 Summary 109 CHAPTER 5 112 ANALYSIS 112 5.1 Introduction to the Analysis 116 5.2 Analysis 120 5.3 Summary of Findings 168 Chapter 6 173 Killing in Combat 173 6.1 Introduction to Chapter 173 6.2 Analysis 176 6.3 Summary 192 Chapter 7 195 A Force for Good: Negotiating the Moral and Transitional Self 195 7.1 Introduction 195 7.2 Analysis 198 7.3 Summary 219 Chapter 8 222 It’s All About ‘Boots on the Ground’ 222 8.1 Introduction to the Chapter 222 8.2 Introduction to Jay, and Summary of Themes 224 8.3 Analysis 226 8.4 Part 2: Masculinity and Inhibition 240 VII 8.5 Summary 243 Chapter 9 247 Discussion: Johnny, the Complex Warrior 247 9.1 Introduction to the Discussion 247 9.2 Summary of Findings 249 9.3 The Warrior Self 252 The machismo of being a warrior 259 Sense making of killing in combat 262 9.4 Immersion into the Culture of the Group 266 9.5 Narrating Life Transitions and Warrior Calling 270 9.6 Summary 277 9.7 Limitations 281 Cultural differences 281 Sample size 282 9.8 Contributions to the Research 284 9.9 Implications and Further Research 289 References 295 Appendices 316 Appendix A: Ethical release checklist. 316 Appendix B: Participant Information Sheet and Consent Form 321 Appendix C: Research Debrief Sheet 324 Appendix D: Structure of interview and Semi Structured Interview Questions 330 VIII Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Overview of the Thesis This thesis primarily sets out to investigate killing in combat, and how soldiers make sense of not only this role, but their self as part of a combat infantry unit. The field of killing in combat is an under developed area of military psychology, which has yet to explore, or take into account the testimonies, and experiences of modern days soldiers, in an in depth, qualitative, psychological analysis. Thus this thesis sets out to address a gap in the literature, by attempting to better understand how soldiers understand and navigate killing in combat. Predominantly, theories have suggested an innate universal resistance to killing among humans (Grossman, 1995; Marshall, 1968).

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