Background:
At 10:15 A.M. on Thursday, August 23rd, 1973 the "Sveriges Kreditbank" of
Stockholm, Sweden was assailed by sub-machine gunfire. Jan-Erik Olsson, a prison
escapee and another inmate held four of the bank's employee as hostage in an 11
by 47 foot vault for five and a half days.
While the "Sveriges Kreditbank" break-in itself may not have been of
earth-shattering importance, but there was something in this for everyone to
learn from. Interviews with the four hostages ceded startling results. The
captives had begun to empathize with their captors. Even though the captives
themselves were not able to explicate it, they displayed an uncharacteristic
connection with their captors and identifying with them. In some cases they
later testified on behalf of them and even raised money for the legal defense of
their captors. (p15)
Swedish location of the "Sveriges Kreditbank" termed this mental aberration
as "The Stockholm Syndrome."
Continuing psychological studies vis-à-vis hostage situations have outlined a
comparatively clear and characteristic set of symptoms for the Stockholm
syndrome. They are:
1. The captives begin to identify with their captors.
2. The captives start to realize that any action taken by his would-be rescuers
is very likely to hurt him instead of obtaining his release. In other words, the
captive is likely to doubt everyone and will not place his or her trust in
another individual.
3. Longer a person is in captive, the stronger his/her bonds will be with the
captor. The captive beings to understand the captor's motives and identifies
with his problems and aspirations.
4. The captive also distances himself/herself emotionally from the situation by
denying that it is actually taking place and more so it is happening to him or
her.
Another interesting fact about the Stockholm syndrome was the case of a woman
who was one of the captives held hostage at that bank, who became so emotionally
attached to one of the robbers that she broke her engagement to another man and
remained faithful to her former captor during his prison term.
Psychological Viewpoint:
"...No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the
continent, a part of the main." John Donne, 1573-1631)
Human beings and animals need someone in order to sustain their social needs in
the society. For any social creature, the fastest way to establish neurotic and
abnormal behavior is through social isolation and imprisonment. Being forcibly
removed from your daily life and put in a strange environment against your will,
where you cannot escape seems like a frightful concept. The only interaction to
human life one is allowed to have is with your captors.
The initial response of the captives is anger, which slowly turns into
compassion. Your entire world now revolves around your captor(s) (p 15). This is
a frightening concept because there is now a sensory vacuum created by the
captive wherein s/he lives in isolation.
In summation, Stockholm syndrome is a survival mechanism. It is an emotional
attachment, a bond of interdependence between captive and captor.
Bibliography:
Pilevsky, Philip Captive Continent - The Stockholm syndrome in European-Soviet
Relations, Praeger Publishers. New York. 1989
"Identification with the aggressor; persecution syndrome"
http://www.fgi.net/~freud
Copyright 2000 Suzanne Clothier. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Flying
Dog Press
-LKS
