Discipline

Abstract

The debate as to whether combat performance is best enhanced by formal—and intrinsically punitive— discipline or by self-discipline and social pressure came to the fore during the First World War. There are a number of aspects to this issue. First is the pull of formal discipline in opposition to a greater reliance on self-discipline (including the social pressure implicit in group organization); then there is the debate over the conditions in which formal discipline should be relaxed or reasserted. Finally, there is the physical compulsion that is a corollary of collective discipline.