By the Stockholm syndrome the science understands a psychological phenomenon, with which victims develop a positive emotional relationship to their kidnappers of takings of hostages. This can lead to the fact that victims feel with the authors compassion. It can flow even into the fact that authors and victims fall in love or cooperate into one another.

Sometimes the Stockholm syndrome is falsely called also Helsinki syndrome.

Origin

The term of the Stockholm syndrome, which does not represent a syndrome in the actual sense, is to be led back to the events of 23. until 27 August 1973 into Sweden. At that time credit banks, a bank at the Norrmalmstorg, in the center of the capital Stockholm was attacked. Four of the employees were taken as hostages. More than five days followed, in which the media illustrated for the first time also the fear of the hostages with a taking of hostages. It showed up that the hostages developed a larger fear in relation to the police than opposite the Geiselnehmern.

Despite their fear the hostages did not feel hate however also after the taking of hostages against the Geiselnehmer. They were even grateful for it, to have been released. Besides the hostages asked for grace for the authors and visited these in the prison.

Causes

The Stockholm syndrome may appear at first sight strange. But the literature calls numerous possible causes for such a behavior:

• Both victims and authors pursue the goal of surviving the incident why they cooperate.

• Victims try to protect in the context of an uncalculable situation, by trying to meet the desires of an author.

• Authors will opposite behave often in a well-meaning manner victims, in order to avoid an escalation of the situation. From this an emotional connection and gratitude can develop of victims opposite authors.

• As an evolutionary basis for the approximation of the victims to the authors a coinage in the infancy can be regarded. If a child learns that bad parents will be appeased more badly, if it suffers but can by fading out the bad ways of acting and the own rebutting evidence of the "property unity", can release an extreme situation this reflex again.

• The maximum control loss with a taking of hostages is only with difficulty strengthable. More bearable this, if the victim talks himself, it is partially also its will, e.g. there it itself with the motives of the kidnappers identified.

Acquaintance of cases

The victims of takings of hostages do not show always all behavior patterns usual for the Stockholm syndrome. Nevertheless usually individual symptoms show themselves, which admits from the Stockholm syndrome is. Popular cases, with which the Stockholm syndrome was assumed in the past years, are:

• 1974 - Patty Hearst, which follows grandchild daughter of the US publisher William Randolph Hearst, few months after its release of the Symbionese liberation Army, by which she was kidnapped. (In this case there was however also opinions, it a pretended kidnapping concerned.)

• 1996 - The German Nicola Fleuchaus, which was kidnapped in Costa Rica, embraces one of its kidnappers.

Literature

• Robert Harnischmacher and Josef The Stockholm syndrome: to the psychological reaction of hostages and Geiselnehmern. In: Archives for Kriminologie 180 (1987), 1-2, pages 1 - 12
• Rolf The Stockholm syndrome: a special view of the relationship of Geiselnehmer and hostage. In: Practice of the right psychology 9 (1999), 1, pages 78 - 85
• Arnold Wieczorek: The Stockholm syndrome in such a way specified: to the psychology of a with the police much-considered phenomenon. In: Kriminalistik 57 (2003), 7, pages 429 - 436

Further information

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