Psychiatry, Hate Training, and the Second World War

During the Second World War, the role of psychiatrists in military training was crucial. The part played by psychiatrists in training young men for combat was of intense interest to the family and friends of service personnel, as well as to men preparing for combat. Fearing that British men would be unable to cope with the rigors of the modern battlefield and heeding the advice of behaviorist psychologists, the military established battle schools. These “schools” or training camps would focus on “battle inoculation” and “hate training.” The first battle school was established by the British army in early 1942, and a psychiatrist was appointed to it. The school had two aims: first, to establish a new battle drill to replace older methods of training that had proven unworkable; second, to “condition students to the noise and fog of war” by using live ammunition and high explosives. However, this “hate training” came under sustained attack by psychiatrists and the general public. This article uses the lens of military training to reflect on the uses and abuses of psychiatry in times of national emergency.