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  • From: "Jerry W. Shepperd" <shepperd AT austincc.edu>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Cc: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] ...'political attack' on girlfriend
  • Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2004 17:18:08 -0500

At 04:02 PM 10/29/04, Rob wrote:

I BEG YOUR PARDON! Say what? I have violent tendencies because I served my country?
There are a hell of lot of people in uniform and damn few actually carry weapons. These days while occupying a country after we invaded it are a bit different but that's not what you said in that blanket statement.


Most people in the military live their lives in the same way as civilians live theirs, as someone who gets up every morning and goes to a job. People join the military for a number of reasons, and very few of the reasons involve combat. Even during Viet Nam, there were 10 times the number of military personnel in non-combatant roles than the number fighting in Southeast Asia, and the ratio is even greater today. Currently, there are approximately 160,000 military men and women in Iraq. There are approximately 1,400,000 active duty men and women in the military, with another 1,300,000 reserve and National Guard military personnel -- almost 17 noncombatant military to one combatant. Most serve in jobs where a weapon would be as out of place as it would be in most civilian jobs.

I don't have the data to "prove" this assumption, so may be completely wrong, but there are good reasons to expect that the percentage of people with violent tendencies in the military is approximately the same as the percentage of people with violent tendencies in the general population, holding constant age and gender. One of the screening tests used for the military is one that shows sociopathic or violent tendencies, and those who score high are rejected. Also, most civilian violence is situational and involves stress, alcohol, and/or drugs. The newspaper article didn't say, but it is likely that the young Marine recruit who tried to stab his girlfriend may have been under a great deal of stress or using alcohol or drugs.

On a side, but related note, the research on violence and alcohol use shows that non-aggressive individuals become more aggressive when drinking, while aggressive individuals become less aggressive when drinking.

Jerry S.





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