Stockholm syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Stockholm syndrome
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In psychology, Stockholm syndrome is a term used to describe a real paradoxical psychological phenomenon wherein hostages express empathy and have positive feelings towards their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them. These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness.[1][2] The FBIs Hostage Barricade Database System shows that roughly 27% of victims show evidence of Stockholm syndrome.[3] The syndrome is named after the Norrmalmstorg robbery of Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg, Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg in Stockholm, in which bank employees Stockholm were held hostage from August 23 to August 28, 1973. In this case, the victims became emotionally attached to their captors, and even defended them after they were freed from their six-day ordeal. The term "Stockholm syndrome" was coined by the criminologist and psychiatrist Nils Bejerot, who assisted the police during the robbery, and referred to the syndrome in a news broadcast.[4] It was originally defined by psychiatrist Frank Ochberg to aid the management of hostage situations.[5]

Contents
1 Evolutionary explanations 2 Notable examples 3 Lima syndrome 4 In popular culture 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Evolutionary explanations
The syndrome has also been explained in evolutionary terms. Historically raptio (e.g., Rape of the Sabine women) and bride kidnapping have been (and still are in some places) very common practices. Women who were kidnapped and consistently fought back were likely to be killed or imprisoned and thus not have children. But women who bonded with and submitted to their captors were more likely to have children and their children were more likely to receive the genes that made their mothers more passive and bonding towards their captors. And over several generations, this made the population of humans more genetically prone to submission and bonding when kidnapped. [6][7][8]

Notable examples
Mary McElroy was kidnapped and held for ransom in 1933 and released by her captors unharmed. When three of her four captors were apprehended and given maximum sentences (including one

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death sentence), McElroy defended them. According to reports, she suffered from feelings of guilt concerning the case which compromised her mental and physical health. She took her own life in 1940. Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974. After two months in captivity, she actively took part in a robbery they were orchestrating. Her unsuccessful legal defense claimed that she suffered from Stockholm syndrome and was coerced into aiding the SLA. She was convicted and imprisoned for her actions in the robbery, though her sentence was commuted in February 1979 by President Jimmy Carter, and she received a Presidential pardon from President Bill Clinton on January 20, 2001 (among his last official acts before leaving office). Jaycee Lee Dugard was abducted at age 11 by Phillip and Nancy Garrido at a school bus stop in 1991 and was imprisoned at their residence for 18 years. In August 2009, Phillip brought Nancy and Jaycee (who was living under the alias "Allissa") along with two girls that Garrido fathered with Jaycee during her captivity, to be questioned by Garrido's parole officer after he noticed some suspicious behavior. She did not reveal her identity when she was questioned alone. Instead, she told investigators she was a battered wife from Minnesota who was hiding from her abusive husband, and described Garrido as a "great person" who was "good with her kids". Dugard has since admitted to forming an emotional bond with Garrido with great guilt and regret.[9]

Lima syndrome
An inverse of Stockholm syndrome called "Lima syndrome" has been proposed, in which abductors develop sympathy for their hostages. It was named after an abduction at the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru in 1996, when members of a militant movement took hostage hundreds of people attending a party in the official residence of Japan's ambassador. Within a few hours, the abductors had set free most of the hostages, including the most valuable ones, due to sympathy.[10][11]

In popular culture
The term Helsinki syndrome has been used erroneously to describe Stockholm syndrome, popularized by the movie Die Hard.[12] It is also used in The X-Files episode "Folie a Deux". Also, it was mistaken by BBC Top Gear's Richard Hammond once in series 17.

See also
Attachment Brainwashing Nils Bejerot Victimization Victimization Symptoms

References
1. ^ de Fabrique, Nathalie; Romano, Stephen J.; Vecchi, Gregory M.; van Hasselt, Vincent B. (July 2007). "Understanding Stockholm Syndrome" (http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications /law-enforcement-bulletin/2007-pdfs/july07leb.pdf /at_download/file) . FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin (Law Enforcement Communication Unit) 76 (7): 1015. ISSN 0014-5688 (http://www.worldcat.org

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2.

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/issn/0014-5688) . http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services /publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/2007pdfs/july07leb.pdf/at_download/file. Retrieved 17 November 2010. ^ "'Stockholm syndrome': psychiatric diagnosis or urban myth?" (in London, UK.). Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Hampstead Campus (Royal Free and University College Medical School). 2007 November 19.. PMID 18028254 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov /pubmed/18028254) . ^ G. Dwayne Fuselier, Placing the Stockholm Syndrome in Perspective, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, July 1999, 22-25. ^ Nils Bejerot: The six day war in Stockholm New Scientist 1974, volume 61, number 886, page 486-487 (http://www.nilsbejerot.se /sexdagar_eng.htm) ^ Ochberg, Frank "The Ties That Bind Captive to Captor" (http://8.12.42.31/2005/apr/08/opinion /oe-ochberg8) , Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2005 ^ Traumatic entrapment, appeasement and complex post-traumatic stress disorder: evolutionary perspectives of hostage reactions, domestic abuse and the Stockholm syndrome. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17464728) ^ Human Chemistry (Volume Two) (http://books.google.com /books?id=KGaghraz8AUC&lpg=PA603& ots=o5Mdm96kRF&dq=%22capture%20bonding %22%20psychology&pg=PA603#v=onepage&

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q=%22capture%20bonding%22%20psychology& f=false) ^ Psychology Behind Ragging Harsh Agarwal, 2010 (http://www.humiliationstudies.org/documents /AgarwalPsychologyBehindRagging.pdf) ^ Allen, Nick (November 5, 2009). "Jaycee Lee Dugard showed signs of Stockholm syndrome" (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/jayceelee-dugard/6509828/Jaycee-Lee-Dugard-showedsigns-of-Stockholm-syndrome.html) . The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk /news/newstopics/jaycee-lee-dugard/6509828 /Jaycee-Lee-Dugard-showed-signs-of-Stockholmsyndrome.html. Retrieved May 24, 2010. ^ PTSD (http://books.google.ca /books?id=FUOHCwnHFKUC&pg=PA149& dq=%22Lima+syndrome%22) . Springer Science+Business Media. 2006. ISBN 4431295666. http://books.google.ca /books?id=FUOHCwnHFKUC&pg=PA149& dq=%22Lima+syndrome%22. ^ "Africa Politics" (http://www.highbeam.com /doc/1P1-2527009.html) . International Press Service. July 10, 1996. http://www.highbeam.com /doc/1P1-2527009.html. Retrieved 2009-05-08. ^ "Memorable quotes for Die Hard (1988)" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095016 /quotes?qt0466629) . Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095016 /quotes?qt0466629.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: de Fabrique, Nathalie; Romano, Stephen J.; Vecchi, Gregory M.; van Hasselt, Vincent B. (July 2007). "Understanding Stockholm Syndrome" (http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin /2007-pdfs/july07leb.pdf/at_download/file) . FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin (Law Enforcement Communication Unit) 76 (7): 1015. ISSN 0014-5688 (http://www.worldcat.org/issn/0014-5688) . http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/2007-pdfs/july07leb.pdf /at_download/file. Retrieved 17 November 2010.

External links
'Understanding Stockholm Syndrome' (http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications /law-enforcement-bulletin/2007-pdfs/july07leb.pdf) (pdf, page 10), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Love and Stockholm Syndrome: The Mystery of Loving an Abuser (http://counsellingresource.com /quizzes/stockholm/index.html) Psychologist Dr Joseph Carver, writing at CounsellingResource.com Nils Bejerot's article about the events at Norrmalmstorg (http://www.nilsbejerot.se/sexdagar_eng.htm) [1] (http://www.nilsbejerot.se/norrmalmstorg.htm) "Unbewute Liebesbeziehung zum Folterer?" Kritik und Alternativen zu einer "Psychodynamik der traumatischen Reaktion", von Freihart Regner (http://www.ai-aktionsnetz-heilberufe.de/texte/texte /sammelband_2000/Regner.pdf) (German) Why do kidnap victims sometimes fail to escape, even when they have a chance to run?
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(http://everydaypsychology.com/2007/01/why-do-kidnap-victims-sometimes-fail-to.html) at everydaypsychology.com The Relationship Between Stockholm Syndrome and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Battered Women (http://studentpulse.com/articles/35/the-relationship-between-stockholm-syndromeand-posttraumatic-stress-disorder-in-battered-women) A Brief History of Stockholm Syndrome (http://www.time.com/time/nation/article /0,8599,1919757,00.html) from Time.com Stockholm Syndrome (http://www.primehealthchannel.com/stockholm-syndrome-causes-symptomscases-and-treatment.html) Prime Health Channel Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome" Categories: Abuse | Anti-cult terms and concepts | Hostage taking | Mind control | Social psychology | Syndromes This page was last modified on 21 September 2011 at 14:49. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

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