Recent Book: On the other Hand: War on the Mind the Military Uses and Abuses of Psychology
| Author | J. Hilton |
| Date | 01 January 1980 |
| Published date | 01 January 1980 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8005300131 |
| Subject Matter | Recent Book |
Nevertheless I found the Appendix
useful for quick reference. In the last two
editions this Appendix has been
dropped.
while the Appendix on East-
West
Trade
Union links has been
expanded. This reflects my second
criticism:
that
the importance of the role
of the Soviet Union. both in industrial
conflicts and extremist movements. is
over stressed. While it is no surprise to
learn
that
Mick McGahey had talks with
aPolish delegation. it does seem to be
scraping the pot to record that
Joe
Gormley chaired adebate at a Con-
ference of mining trade unions in Poland.
Joe
Gormley is one of those in the front
line in the battle against Communist
takeover of his union so the implication
of entries such as this seems to me to be
misleading to say the least. I have no
doubt
at all that the Soviet Union will
exploit any conflict whether industrial or
subversive or terrorist. in almost any
country
in the world. In countries which
they regard as hostile. such as
NATO
countries or Israel. the KGB will give
practical support to disruptive move-
ments even when those movements
follow political philosophies (e.g,
Trot-
skyism) which they deplore. In so-called
non-aligned countries they may. more
cautiously and discreetly. encourage
divisive influences with a view to
increasing their own hold upon the
government or giving themselves sticks
with which to beat it when convenient.
Almost all such movements. however, do
have internal origins. which may arise as
much from the success of a society (such
as Germany) as from its failures. If one
concentrates too much on the links with
the Soviet Union, it may takes one's eye
off the more
important
ball
.~
the
internal roots and causes and the
indigenous people involved. whether
marxist trade unionists or terrorists. The
Soviet Union does not
sponsor
or create
the conflicts, even though it may try to
exacerbate them. If there are no internal
conflicts. however. they have bothing to
exploit.
Nevertheless. the value of the Annual
to police officers is evident. Terrorism is
becoming increasingly international. It is
significant
that
all of the 71 people killed
in terrorist attacks in England in the past
six years were killed by foreign move-
ments (60 by the IRA. one by the
INLA
and 10 Palestinian
and
other
Arab
groups.) None have been killed by
indigenous English terrorist groups, so
far as I know. in this century. Members
of
other
foreign-based groups (e.g. from
Latin America and Africa) also travel the
world quite freely and a knowledge of
their links with each
other
and with
sympathetic governments may be needed
by police officers at short notice.
The Annual should also be on the
shelves of any serious student of
terrorism and extremism,
and
this
includes agrowing number of policemen.
I have never myself been without a copy
of the latest issue and I probably reach
for it more often
than
any
other
book.
RICHARD
CLUTTER
BUCK
ON
THE
OTHER
HAND
PFTFR
WATSO,":
War on the Mind The Military uses and abuses or Psychologv.
Hutchingson &Co. £5.95.
The
author
of this fascinating and
readable book is uniquely equipped to
report on these
issues-
combining the
qualifications of a psychologist with the
clarity of expression of a professional
journalist. He was an Assistant
Editor
of
'l:ew Societv and now writes for the
Sundar Times.
When Peter
WATSON
began his
research in 1973 he assumed
that
the
military uses of psychology were limited
to
propaganda
and to studies of the
attitudes of soldiers before a nd
after
training. Almost immediately however at
the U.S. Army's special warfare school at
Fort
Brag he found a whole library of
reports on military experiments such as
"the
selection of men to work behind
enemy lines,
...
ways to induce defection.
...
the way to
stop
men chickening out of
battle. . . . how to avoid being
brainwashed.
..
tests to select
code breakers
....
the use of ghosts to
97
harry tribal peasants." The possible
relevance of some of these. not always
successful
experiments
to
police
concerns such as the interrogation of
prisoners or the selection and training of
officers is clear.
Out
of this wealth of material grew this
substantial and interesting book. In the
areas previously. well-researched
psychological warfare and
combat
psychiatry he reviews the developments
since the Second Worlq. War. In relation
to "leadership"
(thai
"hurrah"
word
beloved of senior police
and
army
officers) he makes an interesting
distinction between "leadership''' - the
possession of personal skills. and
"command"
- the deployment of
military skills. This he says has been a
dominant
trend in military research since
the height of the Vietnam War.
although
"little heard of outside a small
group
of
specialists."
January 1980 Police Journal
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