Identifying cultural factors affecting the use of non-lethal weapons

This project will produce a new assessment and decision-support tool that will assist US military leaders in their decisions regarding the development and use of non-lethal weapons. This tool will provide commanders with an ability to anticipate psychological and behavioral reactions to the use of a variety of non-lethal weapons influenced by a variety of cultural and situational factors. No similar tool, procedure, or method currently exists to assist leaders with these issues. Detailed data on psychological and behavioral reactions to the use of non-lethal weapons and differences in those reactions across cultures also do not exist and will be collected during this project. These valuable data will help not only in the development of the assessment tool but will also be extremely useful for training, modeling, and simulation of non-lethal weapon tactics, techniques, and procedures. Military personnel and civilian law enforcement personnel with experience using a variety of non-lethal weapons will serve as consultants and evaluators of the data and the assessment tool to ensure the validity and usability of the final product. Modifications of the military tool may also made available to US and foreign law enforcement, allied military, and private security agencies that use non-lethal weapons.