Does being in the army turn men violent?

Question

Why are men who have been in the army so violent? I hear so many stories of army men who have beaten up or murdered their partners and wives. Is army life toxic?

Answer 1

Man is inherently a violent creature. Society modifies that behavior with acceptable standards and behaviors. People who naturally tend to be more violent probably gravitate towards certain more physical professions, especially the military. Furthermore, the training of the military removes many of the prohibitions society imposes, primarily, the idea that it is wrong to kill.

The military does generally do a very good job of pairing that training with increased morality training and strict codes of ethics and behavior. This is part of why the military needs to maintain such stringent discipline among its ranks: because it does deal with life and death decisions as a common practice.

All things considered, I would proffer the idea that crime rates on military bases are actually much lower than in civilian society. However, when a man kills his wife, it might make the local news. If he's not anybody rich or famous, it will never make national news. Meanwhile, if a soldier kills his wife, then it's not just a man, it's the Army.

So being the military could reduce societal norms against violence, but those are regularly checked by discipline and moral training. Criminal acts by military members are generally lower than corresponding civilian rates, but they are more highly advertised due to the fact that they all reflect upon the military service.

Answer 2

Well, first off, I don't see the Army lifestyle as toxic. I think that people who enter the Army with a "kill kill kill" mentality that are not screened out will just continue on thier negative path. I think that there are a lot of problems with PTSD when men come home, but that does not necessarily translate into domestic abuse. The Army is currently trying to address this mental health problem. Also, not all men have PTSD when they arrive back in the states.

In addition, I believe the level of domestic abuse among the military is the same as police officers or firefighters, yet no one asks if those occupations lead toward a toxic lifestyle... but I digress.

From personal experience, I can state that my significant other did NOT become more violent. If anything, he became more aware of the fragility of life and took less for granted (including me).

The vast majority of people who join the Army don't do so because they want to kill someone, and I think it's ignorant to suggest that all the people who join are predispositioned to violence. People enter for a variety of reasons: to pay for school, to have job experience in a field, to travel, to escape an impoverished lifestyle, or to serve thier country.

Answer 3

I don't know where you hear your stories. I have a Dad that was in the Korean war. He is not violent, he goes out of his way to help others and has my whole life. I think the violence was there before the military, or as you say, the army. I know a great deal of people who are in the army, or a family member of one. I have seen that the army teaches discipline and can actually turn a man's life around, for the better.

Answer 4

I was in the army for 5 yrs and I am not violent really now, but when you are in the army its a pretty wild environment. I mean, we drank all the time. It was pretty normal for the majority of the company to get drunk nearly everyday and we fought alot . When we went to the club especially. You get kind of a mob mentality. Those are the negatives but you also learn alot about living with pain and agony and exhaustion. After the military everything is gravy as we used to say. But, yes, I would say men are a little more violent in the military but I think a bigger reason is that people who go in the military are usually lower income type people as i was. I grew up in a rough environment as did many others so I think we naturally were a little more violent.

Answer 5

I sincerely hope this is an honest question and not just another bash on our troops. Would you like to know why some veterans seem more violent than when they came back? It is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD for short. They have seen and lived through so much that their mind is fragile sometimes. Like they will forget that they are home (stateside) and freak out when they hear fireworks on the 4th of July. Army life is not toxic, but I wish the Army would do a better job of helping soldiers assimilate back into society after active duty.

Answer 6

I think you're succumbing to hyperbole.

No, being in the army does not turn men violent, nor is army life toxic. Who are you hearing these stories from? Consider your sources and perhaps ask why you would come to this assumption.

What's your real interest here? Is it to ask about the behavior of men in the army, or to try to cast dispersions on an institution perhaps performing a job right now that you find repugnant?

Answer 7

Well I dont think the army would change a person that drastically. I think these people were capable of doing that kind of damage to begin with. I had a guy friend who is in the army and he is no more violent than he was before (which is not at all) Ive noticed that the army teaches a great deal of discipline and respect.

Answer 8

I don't think that it's the army so much that's making these men violent. Many of them were probably already violent before they were in the army, you just hear about it later because of their affiliation with the army. I do think that being in combat does change them and the way they view things, but i don't think that's what actually makes them violent, for the most part anyway.

Answer 9

It depends.WWll vet's seen a lot of blood and guts the war was straight out , one on one then the bombing they didn't have the tecnology they have now. Korea was a wimps war. Vietnam was a mistake and we payed dearly. It was mainly a sniper and trap war where you couldn't trust any body or any thing. plus it was a war that forced people to do things that they were brought up being told not to do. Meaning the Draft. You may hear a lot about X military people doing those things, The ones that you hear of are mostly the X vets from the Vietnam Era. If you check the stats. closely, most of the family and spousal battery crimes are since the increased use of alcohol and drugs which really increased during the Vietnam period. In fact our government allowed anyone who was in the military, to drink alcohol, smoke pot and do drugs without any penaltys unless they got in trouble. This all passed on to the next generations, and now they are trying to correct by law's. The majority of family crimes today are non-military people with parents or grandparents with military history. Check the total deaths in each war I'll bet you 80% of the deaths in Vietnam wouldn't pass a drug test today.

Answer 10

No, the military is just like society. It has "bad eggs", either abuse, violent, thieves, etc... The military does not fix what is a basic character of an individual. Some people do join the military because they have violent tendancies, but not all service members fall in those categories, and some do change for the good or bad. There is no black and white answer