During and after the war: examination of the psychological driving forces which lead to violations of International Humanitarian Law

Abstract

The purpose of the present study has been to detect the combatants’ mental processes which occur during their participation in armed conflict and enable otherwise ordinary people to commit atrocities in the military setting, as well as to explore the corresponding psychological aftermath of such acts in the lives of the perpetrators. To do so, a review of the current literature was conducted and the provisions governing the relevant violations of International Humanitarian Law were analyzed. Subsequently, a bibliographic research on the relevant psychological theories addressing one’s internal processes during and after conflict was undertaken, proving that psychological mechanisms that dictate one’s detrimental and illegal conduct in combat exist and result in one overcoming their innate resistance to inflict harm on another human. These procedures include desensitization during the training, as well as rationalization, group absolution, displacement and diffusion of responsibility, dehumanization, obedience to authority, moral disengagement and distance acting in conjunction with one another in combat. Nonetheless, these facilitators of violence were found to leave a traumatic impact on the perpetrators which can emerge while on the battlefield or some time after one’s participation in war and has been proved to be more devastating that the post-traumatic stress of the victims. In order to halt this downward spiral, it is significant to modify the military training tactics, reinforce the Law of War and the sanctions corresponding to the violations thereof and enhance the soldiers' process of rationalization and acceptance through the consolidation of medical, psychiatric, psychological, and social networks and research on the most effective treatment methods.