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The Dark Side of Defence: Masculinities and Violence in the Military

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The Palgrave Handbook of Criminology and War

Abstract

Militaries are institutions of violence. This chapter considers the dark side of military violence: violence within the military. While many criminological studies have attended to the violence and crime of, and within, environments of war, the study of the source of that violence, the military institution, has been neglected. This chapter draws upon the criminological literature of the dark side of organisations to argue violence within the military: hazing, brutalisation, and sexual assault of, and between service personnel, are a structured element of militarism. This is predominantly male violence and crime. By drawing upon critical gender studies and critical theory, the phenomenon of male violence within the military is considered along three key themes: the scission of civil and military, the production of violent subjectivities through military training, and the fraternal character of military masculinities and military organisation.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Julian Knight approached me in 2012 to discuss matter of defence abuse that was under organisational review. I have corresponded with the author of the referenced website. I have shared information from Julian Knight for that website.

  2. 2.

    The Australian description of hazing, or fagging.

  3. 3.

    It is notable that military abuse, again because it is poorly disclosed, may be part of institutional practice well before it is organisationally addressed or publicly scrutinised.

  4. 4.

    I use Huntington, because his work is readily drawn upon by contemporary Western militaries.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Crime Policy and Research, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Ben Wadham

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  1. Ben Wadham
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology, University of Liverpool, UK, LIVERPOOL, United Kingdom

    Ross McGarry

  2. Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology, University of Liverpool, UK, Liverpool, United Kingdom

    Sandra Walklate

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Wadham, B. (2016). The Dark Side of Defence: Masculinities and Violence in the Military. In: McGarry, R., Walklate, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Criminology and War. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-43170-7_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-43170-7_15

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