Chemically enhanced trust potential law enforcement and military applications for oxytocin

Abstract

This research effort explores the potential uses for oxytocin in both law enforcement and military scenarios. These situations are time-sensitive and require rapid trust-building in order to achieve successful and positive outcomes. The trustinducing properties of oxytocin could prove crucial in providing enhanced trust-building capability; thus, increasing the likelihood of non-violent conclusion of several common law enforcement and military scenarios. This thesis first explores the complexity of both neuroanatomy and neurochemistry, vital foundation material necessary to understanding how oxytocin can be used in the law enforcement and military environments. Oxytocin's potential law enforcement and military applicability is then explored through six scenarios: child witness/victim interviews, suicide attempt response, hostage crisis negotiation, covert infiltration, riot control, inmate rehabilitation and insurgency resolution. The reviewed data supports the potential applicability in all situations except insurgency resolution, where international treaties may forbid its use against foreign populations.