Sheepdog Tip of the Day, During Combat tip 158
The influence of groups on killing occurs through a strange and powerful interaction of accountability and anonymity. Although at first glance the influence of these two factors would seem to be paradoxical, in actuality they interact in such a manner as to magnify and amplify each other in order to enable violence. Police are aware of these accountability and anonymity processes and are trained to unhinge them by calling individuals within a group by name whenever possible. Doing so causes the people so named to reduce their identification with the group and begin to think of themselves as individuals with personal accountability. This inhibits violence by limiting the individuals' sense of accountability to the group and negating their sense of anonymity.
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, On Killing
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Bullet Proof Mind for the Armed Citizen Seminar
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Additional Resources
For PTSD, Shepherd Resource Group.