Homicide in the Context of Killing (USP): Unterschied zwischen den Versionen
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== The Act of Killing: Hot and Cold == | == The Act of Killing: Hot and Cold == | ||
Killing can be done with different degrees of emotional involvement and arousal. It can be the result of a person's emotional obsession, be it jealousy or hate or a sexual fantasy like in the case of serial killers like Peter Madsen (Denmark). We may call those the hot killings. It can also be performed as any other work at an assembly line (work in a chicken-, pig- or cattle-slaughterhouse). It can also be seen as an unwelcome duty one has to perform with obedience, diligence, and self-discipline. In both cases, and in different degrees, we could speak of cold killings. Individual acts of killing tend towards the hot pole of an imagined continuum, while large-scale killings (because of their organizational requirements) tend to be located at the other end of it. | |||
A movie depicting the senseless, violent murder of an individual, and comparing it with the cold, calcuated execution by the state, is Krzysztof Kieślowski's "A short film about killing" (1988). À propos execution. Victor Hugo's very short novel (1829) about "The Last Day of a Condemned Man" (Le Dernier Jour d'un Condamné) recounting the thoughts of a man before his execution, makes a good read. | |||
A phenomenological analysis of hot homicides can be found in Jack Katz's "Righteous Slaughter" chapter of his book on Seductions of Crime (1988). | |||
Large-scale killings need organization and obedience. Obedience requires discipline, routine, and control of individual emotions that can obstruct the chain of command. To this end, masses of individuals must be trained to accept the authority of those in command. This cannot be achieved by reliance on threats of sanctions alone, it needs the readiness of individuals to accept the justification given for the required acts of killing. It is not necessary that there be a universally accepted legitimation. All that is necessary and sufficient is that the relevant group creates a (parochial) belief system in which the required acts of killing are being justified. Such parochial justifications usually draw upon universal topics such as legitimate self-defense and states of emergency etc. - to the extent that they are effective in creating a supportive in-group belief system, such justifications help overcome natural killing inhibitions (especially with regard to helpless victims), increase killing efficiency, and prevent those who carry out large-scale killings under orders from developing post-traumatic stress disorders. | Large-scale killings need organization and obedience. Obedience requires discipline, routine, and control of individual emotions that can obstruct the chain of command. To this end, masses of individuals must be trained to accept the authority of those in command. This cannot be achieved by reliance on threats of sanctions alone, it needs the readiness of individuals to accept the justification given for the required acts of killing. It is not necessary that there be a universally accepted legitimation. All that is necessary and sufficient is that the relevant group creates a (parochial) belief system in which the required acts of killing are being justified. Such parochial justifications usually draw upon universal topics such as legitimate self-defense and states of emergency etc. - to the extent that they are effective in creating a supportive in-group belief system, such justifications help overcome natural killing inhibitions (especially with regard to helpless victims), increase killing efficiency, and prevent those who carry out large-scale killings under orders from developing post-traumatic stress disorders. | ||
*Dave Grossman's book (2009) "On killing: The psychological costs of learning to kill in war and society" speaks about the preconditions for becoming an effective shooter in times of war. | |||
*Dave Grossman's book (2009) "On killing: The psychological costs of learning to kill in war and society" speaks about the preconditions for becoming an effective shooter in times of war | |||
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posen_speeches Heinrich Himmler's Posen speech Oct 4, 1943, about the work of killing in the "extermination of the Jewish people"]: | *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posen_speeches Heinrich Himmler's Posen speech Oct 4, 1943, about the work of killing in the "extermination of the Jewish people"]: | ||
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:I am now referring to the evacuation of the Jews, the extermination of the Jewish people. It's one of those things that is easily said: 'The Jewish people are being exterminated', says every party member, 'this is very obvious, it's in our program, elimination of the Jews, extermination, we're doing it, hah, a small matter.' And then they turn up, the upstanding 80 million Germans, and each one has his decent Jew. They say the others are all swines, but this particular one is a splendid Jew. But none has observed it, endured it. Most of you here know what it means when 100 corpses lie next to each other, when there are 500 or when there are 1,000. To have endured this and at the same time to have remained a decent person — with exceptions due to human weaknesses — has made us tough, and is a glorious chapter that has not and will not be spoken of. Because we know how difficult it would be for us if we still had Jews as secret saboteurs, agitators and rabble-rousers in every city, what with the bombings, with the burden and with the hardships of the war. If the Jews were still part of the German nation, we would most likely arrive now at the state we were at in 1916 and 17 [...] (Himmler then praises the mindset of the SS man, devoting approximately 30 of the 116 pages to their virtues as well as their duty of becoming Europe's ruling class in 20 to 30 years.) | :I am now referring to the evacuation of the Jews, the extermination of the Jewish people. It's one of those things that is easily said: 'The Jewish people are being exterminated', says every party member, 'this is very obvious, it's in our program, elimination of the Jews, extermination, we're doing it, hah, a small matter.' And then they turn up, the upstanding 80 million Germans, and each one has his decent Jew. They say the others are all swines, but this particular one is a splendid Jew. But none has observed it, endured it. Most of you here know what it means when 100 corpses lie next to each other, when there are 500 or when there are 1,000. To have endured this and at the same time to have remained a decent person — with exceptions due to human weaknesses — has made us tough, and is a glorious chapter that has not and will not be spoken of. Because we know how difficult it would be for us if we still had Jews as secret saboteurs, agitators and rabble-rousers in every city, what with the bombings, with the burden and with the hardships of the war. If the Jews were still part of the German nation, we would most likely arrive now at the state we were at in 1916 and 17 [...] (Himmler then praises the mindset of the SS man, devoting approximately 30 of the 116 pages to their virtues as well as their duty of becoming Europe's ruling class in 20 to 30 years.) | ||
Mass killing in good conscience was also documented by Joshua Oppenheimer in his 2012 documentary about the Indonesian Massacres of 1965. See: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do1_68LrpbU The Act of Killing] or just the scene [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Kii5OL4p-0&t=7s "Anwar on Roof"] | |||
== Homicide as a cause of death == | == Homicide as a cause of death == | ||