Stockholm Syndrome: friend of my kidnapper

When the boundaries between friendship and antagonism blur...

Today we talk about the Stockholm Syndrome. As we discussed in the article "The ten worst mental disorders", Stockholm Syndrome is a disorder that affects some people who have been victims of kidnapping and may develop some kind of positive feeling towards their captors.

What is Stockholm Syndrome?

The term refers to a bank robbery that occurred in Stockholm, Sweden, in August 1973. The robber kidnapped 4 people (three women and one man) for 131 hours. When the hostages were released, they had established emotional ties with the kidnapper. Because they sympathized with the kidnapper, they explained to reporters that they saw the police as the enemies and felt positive feelings towards the criminal.

The syndrome was first mentioned by Nils Bejerota professor of medicine who specialized in addiction research and worked as a psychiatrist for the Swedish police in the bank robbery case.

Experts disagree

Stockholm Syndrome is considered a defense mechanism, a reaction that our body manifests to a traumatic situation that happened, and experts do not completely agree on the factors that make a person more vulnerable to suffer from this syndrome. There are two reasons for this disagreement. First, it would be unethical to test theories about this syndrome through experimentation. The data obtained so far from the victims differ considerably.

The second cause refers to what relationship this syndrome has with other types of abusive relationships. Many researchers believe that Stockholm Syndrome helps explain some of the behavior of World War II concentration camp survivors. World War IIThe reactions of cult members, the permissiveness of battered women and the psychological or emotional abuse of children.

Javier UrraD. in Psychology and Nursing, explains in the ABC newspaper: "What is surprising is that the kidnapped person seems to take the side of the kidnapper and not that of the rescuers, who will give him his freedom. Possibly it happens because his captor has been very close to him and has not killed him, although he could have done it, he has fed him and has given him a brainwashing. The hostage reaches a certain non-aggression pact, but deep down, without knowing it, what he is looking for is to save his life."

Despite the discrepancies that exist among experts, most agree on three characteristics of the Stockholm Syndrome:

• Abductees have negative feelings towards police and authorities
• Abductees have positive feelings toward the captor
• The captor develops positive feelings toward the abductees.

Who develops Stockholm Syndrome?

Stockholm Syndrome does not affect all hostages or abductees.. In fact, an FBI study of 4,700 kidnapping victims found that 27% of kidnap victims developed Stockholm Syndrome. 27% of those kidnapped developed this disorder.. The FBI then conducted interviews with flight attendants from various airlines who had been taken hostage in different hijackings. The data revealed that three factors are necessary to develop this syndrome:

• The hijacking lasts for several days or longer periods (weeks, months).
• The hijackers remain in contact with the hostages, i.e. they do not isolate them in a separate room.
• Captors are kind to hostages or hostages and do not harm them