The term, Stockholm
Syndrome, was coined in the early 70's
to describe the puzzling reactions of four
bank employees to their captor.
On August 23,
1973, three women and one man were taken hostage
in one of the largest banks in Stockholm.
They were held for six days by two ex-convicts
who threatened their lives but also showed
them kindness.
To the world's
surprise, all of the hostages strongly resisted
the government's efforts to rescue them and
were quite eager to defend their captors.
Indeed, several months after the hostages
were saved by the police, they still had warm
feelings for the men who threatened their
lives. Two of the women eventually got engaged
to the captors.
The Stockholm
incident and the reaction of the hostages
to the takers made everyone wonder whether
the emotional bonding between captors and
captives was a "freak" incident or a common
occurrence in oppressive situations. They
discovered that it's such a common phenomenon
that it deserves a name. Thus the label, Stockholm
Syndrome, was born.
It has happened
to concentration camp prisoners, cult members,
civilians in Chinese Communist prisons, pimp-procured
prostitutes, incest victims, physically and/or
emotionally abused children, battered women,
prisoners of war, victims of hijackings, and
of course, hostages. Virtually anyone can
get Stockholm Syndrome it the following conditions
are met:
- 1) Perceived threat
to survival and the belief that one's captor
is willing to act on that threat,
- 2) The captive's perception
of small kindnesses from the captor within
a context of terror,
- 3) Isolation from perspectives
other than those of the captor Perceived
inability to escape.
Stockholm Syndrome is a
survival mechanism. The men and women who
get it are not lunatics. They are fighting
for their lives. They deserve compassion,
not ridicule. This phenomena is now widely
known, although we kept it a secret as long
as we could. In a CT scenario the longer we
negotiate the more time that a hostage-taker
can "bond" with his captives. The more they
bond, the less likely they are to kill that
person. Terrorists train each other to put
hoods on the captives for just this reason...so
they appear less than human, and are merely
tokens to be traded.
Hostage survival training
would teach you to tell your captor about
your kids, wife, family, or anything else
you could think of to make the Terrorist sympathize
with you. For an example of this watch "The
Crying Game."