Serious violations of international humanitarian rules, a collective acting out?

The serious offenses against civilian populations perpetrated by governmental and non-governmental armed forces are illegal view to the internationally established norms. These acts need primary support of the perpetrators and groups involved. As regards armed forces, processes of obedience to authority can explain breaking of War Law. Concerning mass violations due to civilians, an adhesion process to ideology of destruction is needed. Contributions of Freud in the field of leadership, the inversion of moral values and social desirability to this new order, as well as emotional manipulation of people, are elements of explanation of collective and massive acting out. To prevent these mass crimes, a study of the component parts which support them could allow us to understand the mechanisms in play