With the recent surge in crime across the nation, experts are searching for an explanation. David Grossman, a military psychologist, has coined the term "killology" for the new field of studying the "methods and psychological effects of training army recruits to circumvent their natural inhibitions to killing fellow human beings." He claims that through study of human nature and techniques used in the army to "desensitize" soldiers, the truth can be found about why killing is becoming more prevalent in American society today. The investigation must take place with the help of media, educators, government, and parents/family.

In the army, there is a precise procedure followed in order to train soldiers to kill. The procedure is strict and grueling because killing is an entirely unnatural social response. Animals, along with humans, have a "built in aversion to killing one's own kind" and so are not able to readily kill another of their own species without training. (Grossman) This innate inability to kill was demonstrated in the Civil War, especially during the battle of Gettysburg. Over 27,000 muskets were picked up from the dead after the battle and a surprising 90% of the guns were loaded. This is curious since 95% of the time on the battlefield was spend reloading the guns while the other 5% was in shooting In other words, despite the guns only being loaded for a split second before being shot, nearly all of the guns picked up were loaded. Perhaps even more astounding was the fact that over half of the guns had multiple loads. This meant that the soldiers were loading time after time without shooting, probably to prevent themselves from having to kill the enemy.

Once the army realized the inability of their soldiers to kill, steps were taken to create a soldier "willing to fire to kill." The methods worked, and by the Vietnam War, the rate of soldiers willing to kill rose to 90%. Even as these methods are used in the military today to train soldiers to kill, many of the same methods are being found today in society. Through the media and forms of communication around the world, children are being exposed to the military's methods of brutalization, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and role modeling used to train to kill.

Brutalization occurs in the military at boot camp. Soldiers are physically and verbally abused from the moment they step off the bus by carefully trained professionals. The method of brutalization is designed to break down the existing values of the soldier and force them to "accept a new set of values that embrace destruction, violence, and death as a way of life." (Grossman) Similarly, children are exposed to brutalization through violence in the media. At the age of 18 months, a child can witness something on TV and mimic that action. Not until the age of 6 or 7 can a child differentiate between reality and fantasy clearly, so when a child sees someone shot, stabbed, raped or murdered, it appears to them that it is actually happening. Children are being exposed to people being killed literally thousands of time in their formative years and are becoming desensitized to death and destruction.

Classical conditioning is a well-known method of connecting an action with a certain feeling. The Japanese used methods of classical conditioning in World War II to train their soldiers. Prisoners were "placed in a ditch and then stabbed to death as countless others watched and cheered." After the brutal massacres, the soldiers were all treated to a huge feast, the largest they would eat the entire year, and they would be given "comfort girls." In this way, the soldiers would correlate the intense feelings of pleasure and contentment to the killings earlier in the day. Today in society, the same techniques are apparent. Children go to the movie theaters and are shown guns, death, and violence as they sit happily in a comfortable chair with candy, popcorn, and their best friends. Children come to associate violence with the good times spent at the theaters with their family and friends.

The third method used by the military to train their soldiers for killing is operant conditioning, a procedure using a method of stimulus-response. Training consists of soldiers being put in situations as real as possible and trained to do the right thing time after time. If in a flight simulator, when the plane's warning light goes on, the pilot is trained to react a certain way through repetition. Police officers are trained to shoot targets that pop up with guns time after time. Soon, the officers and pilots cease to be conscious of what they are doing, but rather just act because that is what their body tells them to do. In the same manner, children are taught to point and shoot in video games to kill their target. Children point and shoot time after time until they do it amazingly accurately and quickly. They cease to think about consequences or take their time to think, but rather they just do what their body has been conditioned to do. It is not uncommon to have a kid who "has never picked up a gun in their lives pick up real guns and are incredibly accurate." (Singh) Why this accurate? Operant conditioning.

Role modeling also plays a role in re-establishing the values of a soldier. A soldier is immediately confronted with the drill sergeant as a role model. Because the drill sergeant "personifies violence and aggression" the soldier believes this to be the correct way to approach life. In today's media, the same technique is being used. Through glorification of movie actors and people in the news, children see the famous faces on television and act to mimic their actions. Often times the news on television, in the papers, and on the radio focus on the crime and brutal actions of some individuals. Young children see these people being reported in the news and think that crime is the way to get your face on the television. One 14 year old responded "I know how to get my name on TV too" after hearing about the Jonesboro murders. The children fail to think but simply act as their role models do.

Granted these methods of desensitizing human beings are not having the effect desired by society, but the fact is these methods are causing inappropriate behavior. The link between television/video game violence and crime has been established. The Journal of American Medical Association published a study comparing nations, demographically and ethnically identical, that had television violence to nations without the violence. In every nation that had the television violence, "there is an immediate explosion of violence on the playground, and within 15 years, there is a doubling of the murder rate." ("Crime Fear...") The 15 years is simply the time it takes children who watched the violence to be old enough to act out their violence.

The link established between violence in the media and violence in society is "superior to that linking cancer to tobacco." (Grossman) Hundreds of studies done on the effects of violence in the media have been published, most of which claim that through television, the homicide rate, suicide rate, and rape rate have all increased dramatically. The Journal of the American Medical Association stated that "if hypothetically, television technology had never been developed, there would be 10,000 fewer homicides each year in the United States, 70,000 fewer rapes, and 700,000 fewer injurious assaults." Without a doubt, the effects of the media do directly affect children in society.

A poll taken by Louis Harris and Associates found that out of the 2000 teenagers polled, one in eight youths reported carrying a weapon and the figure increases to almost two in five in high-crime neighborhoods. One in nine reported missing class or school altogether out of fear of crime. With such a high rate of involvement of crime and adolescents, Erin Donovan, co-director of the Teens, Crime and the Community program in, said, "Crime has become this generation's Vietnam." She continued, "when you find that 46 percent of teenagers are changing their behavior because of crime, you're seeing an impact that's very alarming."

The group at the most risk to becoming victims of crime is children between the age of twelve and fifteen. Teenagers of all ages are crime victims "twice the national average and at ten times the risk of the elderly." ("Crime") According to government statistics published by the Justice Department in 1995, "one in four teenagers, and one in two in high-crime areas, said they did not always feel safe in their own neighborhood." ("Crime") Almost one in three students worried about drive-by shooting and nearly half of the teenage population said they "had changed their daily routine because of crime and violence."

With this fear of violence and crime, teenagers look for ways to find comfort and support. Reportedly, two in three teenagers said "most neighborhood youngsters looked up to gang members" for backing and support. More than half the students interviewed believed that belonging to a gang was "like having a family that will always be there." (Marrazzo) However, a positive result that was illustrated in the survey was that students "expressed an interest in taking part in activities aimed at curbing violence." (Marrazzo) Students expressed a widespread willingness to take an active role in dealing with problems of crime and violence. Nine in ten students polled were willing to "participate in mentoring, education, or community awareness programs." (Marrazzo) These programs to aid in the suppression of crime and violence in the lives of teenagers and in society in general do exist and are working.

Suzann Marrazzo works with teenagers involved in crime and violence. She teaches in an alternative school in Las Vegas to help the students cope in society. The kids in Marrazzo's "Teen Crime and the Community" (TCC) program aren't "ordinary kids" according to Marrazzo. They are "extraordinary kids" most of who have to live with crime and violence on a daily basis." Marrazzo recognizes that these troubled kids can be the strongest weapons to fight the battle against crime. She notices that "nobody is better equipped to deal with [crime] than the kids themselves. Bven the most hardened ones can show ''amazing empathy'' when they talk about crime with younger kids.'' Through interaction with these kids, Marrazzo does not control the lifestyle they live because it would be impossible to alter without removing the kids from their environment. Rather, Marrazzo's program, along with other rehabilitation programs, aimed to teach these crime-hardened children to positively interact in society even while living in difficult surroundings.

Just as with kids in other programs around the nation, the youth with whom Suzann Marrazzo works, experience adversity and hardship everyday. The training that takes place in the classroom does not focus on changing their lives, but rather focuses on allowing the children to 'live' their lives. David Singh of the Bureau of Justice in

Washington D.C., who has studied Mrs. Marrazzo's techniques, explains the strategy; "a 45 minute session will not erase the circumstances, which surround the lives of these students. It can however give them the strength to cope with adversity and serve to build their resiliency."

The programs aimed to benefit these troubled youth impact society in three main ways. First, the programs flinction to positively impact young people who face hardship and who need guidance. Second, it empowers its young participants to "look beyond the horizon of adversity and seek out ways in which they can help each other and their community." (Marrazzo) And third, the program is beneficial in providing outlets for the exercise of youth power in society.

Marrazzo believes her program and ones like hers are important because "it teaches [the kids] about crime, justice, and the importance of community," but most importantly it "teaches them how to survive in a world that is often hostile towards them." Marrazzo teaches them to care for their classmates, their community and most of all, themselves. Marrazzo views the class as "a family" that faces reality together in an attempt to learn and grow. The work of TCC has performed wonders in helping the kids. A seventeen-year-old student of the program, Nikki Zamio, expressed how much she has benefited from the program. She said, "we learn so much in class, about the law, about how not to be a victim of crime, about the importance of accountability, but most of all, we learn how to respect each other and get respect."

It is our nation's responsibility to change behavior to seek a fliture that is life giving for the youth of our nation. In order to curb this sharp incline of violence in society today, steps must be taken now to educate children. Prevention measures in the schools such as metal detectors, surveillance cameras, and added security will deter crime, but only address the symptoms and will be costly. Gun control methods should also help in lowering the crime rate especially in examples such as the recent influx of school shootings. On May 20, 1999 the United States Senate passed a bill that will restrict gun distribution. The bill requires "safety devices on every handgun, mandatory background checks on all purchasers, and a ban on the import of high-capacity ammunition clips." ("Crime Fear...") The approval from the Senate demonstrates a significant national shift in the political climate involving the stance on guns.

Regulation of the media will also be required to control the wave of violence. The amount of violence that children are exposed to must be minimized in order to reduce the effects of desensitization. Children must at least be at the age when they can decipher reality and fantasy, and differentiate right and wrong before being exposed to violence and death. Although these methods of detention and exposure will help, the focus must shift to prevention of violence, which starts in and around the home Parents, teachers, and children must work together in stopping the violent mentality that exists today. Programs such as the one led by Susan Marrazzo help in the recovery of children from violence, but parents and family too must accept responsibility to teach that crime only leads to greater problems, not solutions.