Mar 28, 2024  
OHIO University Undergraduate Catalog 2021-22 
    
OHIO University Undergraduate Catalog 2021-22 [Archived Catalog]

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T3 4800 - War: Human Response


Human responses to war are examined both from the subjective perspective of creators of literature of war and from the objective perspective of psychologists who study individual and group behavior in times of conflict. Topics include the nature of individual and organized aggression, perception of the enemy, disillusion and disenchantment, obedience to authority, the irony of war, victimization, and alternatives to war.

Requisites: 9 hours in (ENG or PSY) and Sr only
Credit Hours: 3
General Education Code (students who entered prior to Fall 2021-22): 3
Repeat/Retake Information: May be retaken two times excluding withdrawals, but only last course taken counts.
Lecture/Lab Hours: 3.0 lecture
Grades: Eligible Grades: A-F,WP,WF,WN,FN,AU,I
Learning Outcomes:
  • Understand the roots of human aggression as explained by the biological, learning, cognition, psychodynamic, and existential-humanistic perspectives, as well as the distinction between individual aggression and organized societal aggression.
  • Understand the role played by the principles of social perception in how we perceive our enemies, and how those perceptions, in turn, affect how we categorize and respond to the enemy prior to and during war.
  • Understand the elements of basic training that affect the soldier’s motivations, self concept, obedience to authority, and understanding of the nature and culture of the enemy, and how these interact to affect behavior during war.
  • Understand the causes, dynamics, and outcomes of the inevitable disillusion and disenchantment of the combat soldier, including the violation of thémis, the undoing of character, and the development of PTSD.
  • Appreciate the irony of war, including the notion that any given war is always worse than we expect it to be, that we begin by fighting the last war, and how war is sold to the public (i.e., why the real war will never get in the books).
  • Understand the psychology of victimization and how it applies to both the military and civilian victims of war.
  • Identify the role of psychology in finding alternatives to relying on armed conflict to resolve disputes between nations (or groups within nations), including the roles played by perception, communication, learning, and conflict resolution.



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