Self-inflicted wounds occur in various contexts in the military. Most self-inflicted wounds occur during wartime, for various reasons. Potential draftees may self-injure to have a health deferment to conscription. This was practiced as conscription abstinence by some Jewish conscripts in the Russian Empire. Deployed soldiers may injure themselves in order to be temporarily evacuated from the front lines for treatment, and possibly receive a medical

discharge Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...

. In prisons and forced labour camps, people sometimes self-injure to avoid forced labor and spend time in the relatively less stressful conditions of the

infirmary Infirmary may refer to: *Historically, a hospital, especially a small hospital *A first aid room in a school, prison, or other institution *A dispensary A dispensary is an office in a school, hospital, industrial plant, or other organization ...

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

Types of wounds

Common wound types include gunshots to the extremities. A person may achieve a similar effect by deliberately neglecting their health, e.g., by letting a minor wound become infected, or foregoing foot care in damp environments to trigger the development of diseases like trench foot and tropical ulcers, which are debilitating but not usually fatal or permanent if treated properly.

Punishments

In most militaries, deliberately injuring oneself is a serious offense. Most self-inflicted wounds go unrecognized, though consequences are usually severe if caught, sometimes carrying the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. In the British army during World War I, the maximum penalty for a self-inflicted wound ("Willfully maiming himself with intent to render himself unfit for service", as it was described) under Section 18 of the Army Act 1881 was imprisonment, rather than capital punishment. In the British Army, 3,894 men were found guilty and were sent to prison for lengthy periods.First World War.com - Encyclopedia - Self-inflicted Wounds (SIW)
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In

Nazi concentration camp From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...

s, self-injury was dangerous as the incapacitated were often just executed, but in some lower-stringency camps it has indeed been documented.

History

Many self-inflicted wound reports during World War I placed soldiers under suspicion for injuries that could have been genuine accidents. During World War II, almost all armies (in particular, the Soviet Army and the Wehrmacht) had cases of self-inflicted injury.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Self-Inflicted Wound Law of war Self-harm