|    Login    |    Register

Human Killing Machines: Systematic Indoctrination in Iran, Nazi Germany, Al Qaeda, and Abu Ghraib

(Paperback)


Publishing Details

Full Title:

Human Killing Machines: Systematic Indoctrination in Iran, Nazi Germany, Al Qaeda, and Abu Ghraib

Contributors:

By (Author) Adam Lankford

ISBN:

9780739134160

Publisher:

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Imprint:

Lexington Books

Publication Date:

22nd June 2010

Country:

United States

Classifications

Readership:

Professional and Scholarly

Fiction/Non-fiction:

Non Fiction

Other Subjects:

Terrorism, armed struggle
Political structures / systems: autocracy, totalitarianism and dictatorship
Social, group or collective psychology
Violence and abuse in society

Dewey:

363.325

Physical Properties

Physical Format:

Paperback

Number of Pages:

202

Dimensions:

Width 155mm, Height 232mm, Spine 15mm

Weight:

311g

Description

They usually start out as ordinary people, doing their best to deal with mixed messages in a complex world. What they dont realize is that they may be the target of a violent system that is building an obedient workforce. One day theyre enjoying a few laughs with buddies, and seemingly the next day, they wake up as human killing machines. And they allowed it to happen.

Addressing one of the most serious threats to the world today, Human Killing Machines applies the model of systematic indoctrination to case studies of brutality in Iran, Nazi Germany, Al Qaeda, and Abu Ghraib. The book reveals how these transformations take placehow systems redefine morality to turn ordinary people into torturers, terrorists, and genocidal killers. Analyzing the key differences between these cases also helps to identify the safeguards which limit violence. Lankford demonstrates the weaknesses of indoctrination, the ways heroic individuals have resisted its influence, and the potential for countermeasures. Based on these examples, he offers recommendations for how we can begin to reform the U.S. military and increase its accountability, reduce Al Qaeda terrorists commitment to their missions, and spark an awakening in Iran so that the oppressive regime goes out with a whimpernot with a bang.

Reviews

This book is a must read. It should be required reading for all police officers. Hopefully, by understanding the process of systematic indoctrination, as so aptly described by Adam Lankford, those entrusted with the power of the state will mightily resist any pull towards acts of unredeemable violence. -- Drew Diamond, Chief of Police (Ret.), Tulsa, OK
Adam Lankford's well-written and provocative new book . . . delivers a behavioral model that goes a long way toward explaining otherwise inexplicably inhuman actions by 'normal' human beings. The reader need not agree with every one of Lankford's observations to recognize his insightfulness and the utility of his work for both scholars and practitioners. Human Killing Machines is 'must-reading' for soldiers, diplomats, and political leaders of democratic countries as well as academics in the social sciences, international relations, and criminal justice. -- John T. Fishel, Ph.D., College of International Studie, The University of Oklahoma, author and editor of The Savage Wars of Peace and co-author of Uncomfortable Wars Revisited
Human Killing Machines is a work of diligent scholarship marked by skillful exposition and compelling prose. This book deals with issues that matter to our way of life and sheds light on how we might better understand and ameliorate the potential for violence, including catastrophic violence, that dogs the modern world. -- Robert Johnson, Professor of Justice, Law and Criminology, American University
Lankford's Human Killing Machines is a splendid interdisciplinary effort sure to interest casual readers, sociologists, political scientists, criminal justice scholars, and Homeland Security experts alike. . . . Lankford persuasively reminds us that legal, moral and ethical behavior will not always be the norm across each culture or in each setting. The 'psychology of evil' and indoctrinated violence will continue to present daunting challenges to those that preserve, protect, and promote discipline, law, order and well-being. * Homeland Security Review *

Author Bio

Adam Lankford is assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Alabama.

See all

Other titles from Bloomsbury Publishing PLC