In this second paper in a two-part series, the authors present a theoretical model that attempts to explain the psychodynamics of “ordinary” individuals who engage in socially sanctioned mass violence. The authors put this model in the context of previous work by Freud, Bion, Kernberg, Volkan, and others. They also compare this population with the chronically violent delinquent population, noting similarities and differences.

The authors begin by stating that historical group trauma and the intergenerational transmission of such trauma leads to identification with