ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how social explanations for misfortune had psychological implications on the mental health of pilots. Pilots seek to resist automatic urges to respond to social pressure by squelching their individual needs. Lynn Struve has evidenced strong historical roots in emotional memory in her work as it regards historical China. Displays of post-traumatic stress disorder are mentioned to describe the mental state of Zhang in 1651 after a particularly horrific battle where men were slaughtered without mercy. In 2001, Dekker gave a talk in Columbus, Ohio, at the 11th International Symposium on Aviation Psychology. He made the point that human error is inevitable. In 2005, Brennan reported that 35,000 workers are violently attacked each year in the United Kingdom, and the problem is getting worse there. An insidious problem among pilots is their use of gossip and conjecture to pressure weaker pilots to resign. Where this behavior is allowed to continue, employees are harassed and emotionally abused.
