Stockholm Syndrome is a fairly rare psychological disorder in which a victim of violence shows sympathy for their abductor, no matter how serious the crime is. What causes the syndrome? How dangerous is he?

A bit of history

The pathological disease was named after the famous bank robbery in Sweden, Stockholm. The bank was robbed by two armed men, they took 4 employees hostage. After the police figured it out, the hostages, instead of giving evidence, went over to the side of the kidnappers.

Even when the criminals themselves confessed to the crime, they were sentenced to imprisonment, the victims tried in every way to save them. First, they collected money for the trial, then they made a bail, they wanted to save the offenders from severe punishment. Interestingly, one captive in general secretly married her captor. This is a unique phenomenon in psychology that is based on positive feelings.

Causes

It is still difficult to determine why a person develops such a strange condition. For several years, many psychiatrists, police officers have been collecting different factors, but did not fully figure out the exact reasons. As a rule, Stockholm syndrome develops due to the fact that:

• The victim represents the abductor in a positive light.
• The hostage thinks that the offender, on the contrary, is attentive to his needs, life.
• The victim tries to fulfill his desires.

Please note that hostage syndrome is a serious shock condition that completely changes a person's consciousness. The patient is afraid of various violent operations, the storming of the building. The terrorist realizes: he is alive as long as the hostages are alive. Therefore, criminals are tolerant of those who have been captured.

An anti-terrorist operation is dangerous for a terrorist, he begins to defend himself by all means. It would seem, how can you become attached to a criminal in this situation? Terrorists want to save their lives, so they show solidarity with the victim.

Some hostages with the syndrome behave rather strangely during the operation. When a prisoner sees a special forces soldier, he warns the terrorist about the danger, some even begin to obscure him with their bodies. Many terrorists take advantage of the situation, hiding between the prisoners. Attention! It is a pity that many victims do not understand: the offender does not have pure feelings for the hostage, the main thing for them is to achieve the goal, to get a positive result. But the patient hopes to the end for the compassion of the aggressor. The syndrome immediately goes away if another person is killed in front of our eyes.

Life situations

After the kidnapper provides his victim with optimal living conditions, the hostage looks for his own benefit in the situation. Almost all aggressors treat their victims harshly. When a misfortune happens, a person thinks that his life is over, he expects various bullying, but it didn't work out, in return he gets a kind attitude, affection. In this case, he sharply changes his position, goes over to the side of the offender.

Isolating the victim from the world

A person remembers all the circumstances that happened to him earlier, therefore, in every way he wants to help his kidnapper, sympathizes with him. The hostage becomes emotionally and physically dependent on the offender.

Often, two opposite sexes are together for a long time, as a result, they develop affection for each other. They find out that they have common interests, even appears.

Many kidnapped people want to please their captor. Why do they do this? Some are specially cunning in order to avoid murder, cruelty. The hostage tries to put himself in the shoes of the kidnapper, wants to understand him by all means.

Especially often, feelings for a criminal appear in people who are lonely, live without a family. In this case, the victim becomes helpless.

In addition, when hostages interact with terrorists for a long time, they have a reorientation. That is, in a stressful situation, they begin to think completely differently.

Symptoms

The Stockholm syndrome is characterized by a number of symptoms and signs:

• Strange admiration for the criminal.
• Unreasonable defense.
• Police resistance.
• Helping the kidnapper.
• Refusal of testimony.
• Refusal to escape.

In forensic science, there are many different cases of the manifestation of the Stockholm syndrome. For example, the following situations are quite interesting:

• Heiress Patty Hirst was kidnapped by political terrorists. After a while, she joined their group, then helped them, took part in various robberies and raids.
• In Austria, a 10-year-old girl was kidnapped back in 1998. In 2006, she returned home because the perpetrator was inattentive. The child lived in a cell for about 8 years, while telling about the aggressor that he was a kind, wonderful person.
• The priest kidnapped a 15-year-old girl, she was able to return only after 9 months. She would have run away long ago, but she fell in love with her captor.

Treatment methods

Stockholm syndrome develops after experiencing fear. Here you cannot do without the help of a psychiatrist, help and support of loved ones. It is possible to completely get rid of the symptoms only after a while, when a person has forgotten about all the bad things.

So, Stockholm syndrome is a rather dangerous mental disorder that can seriously harm a person. Many do not understand how dangerous the situation is, they contact an intruder, interfere with the police. To prevent tragedy, urgent help from a psychotherapist is needed. Monitor your health carefully!

When in family relationships the husband raises his hand to his wife, and the wife does not resist, then this phenomenon is called Stockholm syndrome.

Stockholm Syndrome is manifested by warm feelings towards the torturer

History of appearance

This is a psychological term that characterizes the following mental disorder: the victim of violence feels fear in relation to his tormentor, but after a while it develops into love. For example, people who are held hostage begin to show understanding towards their captors and, to some extent, do not even want to resist. They get used to a negative attitude towards themselves, and over time, the victim and the tormentor become good friends or a couple in love.

In 1973, people were taken hostage in one of the banks. They spent a lot of time with the bandits, which led to sympathy. The offender and victim found a common language and became close to each other. The victim began to show sympathy for the offender, to learn about his fears and weaknesses.

There are several cases in which hostages voluntarily started helping criminals. They refused to be released and wanted to remain hostage further. But Stockholm Syndrome may not develop in all people, but only in 10-12% of cases.

Causes

Psychologist Anna Freud completed the research of her famous father and told the whole world about the psychological plan that a person uses in various stressful situations. In this way, he tries to protect his life. Therefore, according to the main data, the victim, being alone with the maniac, begins to flirt with him so that he does not harm her life. There are several reasons for the development of Stockholm syndrome.

1. Long joint stay with the abuser.
2. The human attitude on the part of the maniac to the victim. This behavior is what makes the latter sympathetic.
3. Potential threat to the victim's life.
4. The execution by the victim of all the actions indicated by the maniac.

The development of the relationship between the maniac and the victim is described as follows:

• due to close communication, the perpetrator and victim begin to feel sympathy;
• in order to save his life, the victim will do whatever the perpetrator tells her;
• during a conversation, people ask each other questions and argue on various topics, share accumulated problems and their dreams, that is, they open their souls to each other, because they may consider that this is their last conversation;
• as a result, the victim remains grateful to the maniac for saving her life, so he tries to help him, supports him.

After all that has been said and experienced together, people feel connected. The victim does not want to be rescued, and the maniac feels sympathy for the victim.

Definition of Stockholm Syndrome

Signs

It is very difficult to accurately describe the symptoms that are inherent in Stockholm hostage syndrome. The syndrome in question is not a serious pathology, but 4 important signs can be emphasized that indicate the presence of the disease. Stockholm Syndrome is characterized by these features.

1. Initially, Stockholm Syndrome creates a sense of derealization in the victim. The victim thinks that what is happening at this moment is a simple dream.
2. Prolonged possession or domestic bullying leads to the fact that the victim begins to see through and through his rapist. Personal problems, the presence of aggression - all this spills out.
3. Help from the victim to the maniac. At the very beginning, the victim believes that with his help he will save his life, and his actions are conscious. Later, he ceases to control his actions, and everything that happens to him brings pleasure.
4. The victim believes that attempts to save his life may be in vain and something terrible will happen. Therefore, he chooses the side of the maniac, and ignores the original plan of the rescuers.

Sympathy for the tormentor is a symptom of the syndrome

Family relationship problem

If a man is aggressive towards his wife, and she falls in love with her husband more and more every day, then their relationship is characterized by the Stockholm syndrome in the family. Such a syndrome of a domestic nature can be found in many families. There are many cases when a woman experiences daily violence from her man, but still continues to live with him. In modern times, such family relationships will not surprise anyone.

Stockholm Syndrome in a familial case concerns those people who have a psychological disorder. In childhood, they were not loved, they paid little attention. They almost always have an unworthiness complex.

They live by the same principle: "If you do not object to your offender, his aggression will decrease." The victim forgives the rapist for all his negative actions.

One of the most known species familial Stockholm syndrome is a post-traumatic appearance. It causes addiction in a person. If a person has experienced violence in his life, then his psyche is rebuilt. As a result, the person takes the subsequent humiliation and negativity for granted.

Diagnostics

In modern times, there is a psychological practice that is aimed at studying clinical, psychological and psychometric characteristics in a person. Using the clinical and psychological method, a step-by-step determination of the presence of the syndrome is carried out.

The psychologist asks the patient special questions by which it is possible to determine his mental state and the presence of the syndrome. At this time, the psychologist has the right to call the patient's relatives to confirm the diagnosis.

Getting rid of the problem

The treatment of Stockholm Syndrome is carried out with the help of psychotherapy. Apply drug treatment inappropriate, since many patients consider themselves completely healthy. If you conduct a course of psychotherapy correctly, you can achieve the desired result. If the patient himself realizes that he is sick, it will be much easier to cure him. Pouring out his pain in words, he will be able to see what he did not notice at all before. Aggression, beatings and tyranny can be prevented and no longer tolerate humiliation.

The treatment course helps the patient:

• control your thoughts, which often appear automatically;
• correctly assess your emotions;
• draw conclusions from negative factors in their direction and somehow react to what is happening;
• evaluate what is happening, understand that he is being bullied;
• see the presence of a mental disorder.

During an exacerbation of the syndrome, cause ambulance it is impossible, because the disorder is not a pathology. The treatment will be successful if the person independently realizes that he is a victim. But it will not be possible to completely recover without the advice of an experienced psychologist. The patient must be monitored and monitored for the entire period of treatment.

Conclusion

A person who experiences humiliation and beatings every day, but does not want to somehow change his life, has a mental disorder called Stockholm Syndrome. To help the patient get rid of it, you need to know what it is and how it manifests itself. Experienced psychologists who will conduct a course of psychotherapy will help diagnose and cure the syndrome.

Among abnormal phenomena in psychology, there is the Stockholm syndrome, the essence of which is as follows: the victim of a kidnapping begins to inexplicably sympathize with his tormentor. The simplest manifestation is help to the bandits, which the hostages they have taken voluntarily begin to provide. Often, such a unique phenomenon leads to the fact that the abducted themselves prevent their own release. Consider what are the causes and what are the manifestations of the Stockholm syndrome, and we will give several examples from real life.

Causes

The main reason for the illogical desire to help one's own kidnapper is simple. Being held hostage, the victim is forced to closely communicate with his captor for a long time, which is why he begins to understand him. Gradually, their conversations become more and more personal, people begin to leave the close framework of the relationship "abductor - victim", perceive each other precisely as individuals who may like each other.

The simplest analogy is that an invader and a hostage see each other as kindred spirits. The victim gradually begins to understand the motives of the offender, sympathize with him, perhaps - agree with his beliefs and ideas, political position.

Another one possible reason- the victim tries to help the offender out of fear for his own life, since the actions of police officers and assault brigades are just as dangerous for the hostages as they are for the invaders.

The essence

Consider what Stockholm syndrome is in simple words... This psychological phenomenon requires several conditions:

• The presence of a kidnapper and a victim.
• The invader's benevolent attitude towards his captive.
• The emergence of a hostage's special attitude towards his aggressor - understanding his actions, justifying them. The victim's fear is gradually replaced by sympathy and compassion.
• These feelings are further enhanced in an atmosphere of risk, when both the perpetrator and the victim cannot feel safe. The joint experience of danger brings them together in its own way.

This psychological phenomenon is very rare.

History of the term

We got acquainted with the essence of the concept of "Stockholm syndrome". We also learned what it is in psychology. Now let's look at exactly how the term itself appeared. Its history has been going on since 1973, when there was a hostage-taking in a large bank in the Swedish city of Stockholm. The essence of the situation, on the one hand, is standard:

• A repeat offender took four bank employees hostage, threatening to kill them if the authorities refused to comply with his demands.
• The invader's wishes included the release of his friend from his cell, a large sum of money and a guarantee of security and freedom.

It is interesting that among the captured employees there were people of both sexes - a man and three who had to negotiate with a repeat offender, found themselves in a difficult situation - before this incident, the capture and detainment of people in the city had never happened, perhaps that is why one of the requirements was fulfilled - from prison released very dangerous criminal.

The criminals held people for 5 days, during which they turned from ordinary victims into non-standard ones: they began to show sympathy for the invaders, and when they were released, they even hired lawyers for their recent tormentors. This was the first case to be formally called Stockholm Syndrome. The creator of the term is the criminologist Niels Beyert, who was directly involved in the rescue of the hostages.

Household variation

Of course, this psychological phenomenon is one of the rare, since the very phenomenon of taking and holding hostages by terrorists does not belong to everyday life. However, the so-called household Stockholm syndrome is also distinguished, the essence of which is as follows:

• A woman feels a sincere affection for her tyrant spouse and forgives him all manifestations of domestic violence and humiliation.
• Often, a similar picture is observed with pathological attachment to despotic parents - the child deifies the mother or father, who deliberately deprive him of his will, do not give the possibility of normal full-fledged development.

Another name for the deviation that can be found in the specialized literature is hostage syndrome. Victims take their torment for granted and are willing to endure violence because they believe they deserve nothing better.

Specific case

Consider a classic example of the domestic Stockholm syndrome. This is the behavior of some victims of rape, who begin to sincerely justify their tormentor, blame themselves for what happened. This is how the resulting trauma manifests itself.

Real life cases

Here are some examples of Stockholm syndrome, many of these stories made a lot of noise in their time:

• The millionaire's granddaughter Patricia was kidnapped by a group of terrorists for ransom. This is not to say that the girl was treated well: she spent almost 2 months in a small closet, was subject to emotional and sexual abuse. However, after her release, the girl did not return home, but joined the ranks of the very organization that mocked her, and even committed several armed robberies within it.
• An incident at the Japanese embassy in 1998. During the reception, which was attended by more than 500 guests from the upper strata of society, there was a terrorist takeover, all these people, including the ambassador, were held hostage. The invaders' demand was absurd and impracticable - the release from prisons of all their supporters. After 14 days, some of the hostages were released, while the people who survived spoke with great warmth about their tormentors. Their fear was caused by the authorities, who could decide to storm.
• this girl shocked the entire world community - a charming schoolgirl was kidnapped, all attempts to find her were unsuccessful. After 8 years, the girl managed to escape, she said that the abductor kept her in a room underground, starved her and beat her severely. Despite this, Natasha was upset about his suicide. The girl herself denied that she had anything to do with Stockholm syndrome, and in an interview she directly spoke of her tormentor as a criminal.

These are just a few examples to illustrate the strange relationship between the kidnapper and the victim.

Let's get acquainted with a selection of interesting facts about Stockholm syndrome and its victims:

• Patricia Hirst, mentioned earlier, after her arrest, tried to convince the court that violent acts were committed against her, that criminal behavior was nothing more than a response to the horror that she had to endure. The forensic examination proved that Patty was mentally disturbed. However, the girl was still sentenced to 7 years, but due to the campaigning activities of the committee for her release, the sentence was soon overturned.
• Most often, this syndrome occurs in those prisoners who have been in contact with the invaders for at least 72 hours, when the victim has time to get to know the identity of the offender.
• It is quite difficult to get rid of the syndrome; its manifestations will be observed in the former hostage for a long time.
• Knowledge about this syndrome is used in negotiations with terrorists: it is believed that if the hostages feel sympathy for the invaders, they will begin to treat their victims better.

According to the position of psychologists, Stockholm syndrome does not belong to the category of personality disorders, but rather represents a person's reaction to non-standard life circumstances, as a result of which mental trauma occurs. Some even consider it a self-defense mechanism.

Stockholm Syndrome

Not to be confused with the economic concept of the Dutch Syndrome.

Stockholm Syndrome(eng. Stockholm Syndrome) is a popular psychology term describing a protective-subconscious traumatic connection, mutual or one-sided sympathy that arises between the victim and the aggressor in the process of capture, abduction and / or use (or threat of use) violence. Under the influence of a strong shock, the hostages begin to sympathize with their captors, justify their actions, and ultimately identify with them, adopting their ideas and considering their victim necessary to achieve a "common" goal. Household Stockholm Syndrome, arising in dominant family and household relationships, is the second most famous type of Stockholm syndrome.

Due to the apparent paradoxical nature of the psychological phenomenon, the term "Stockholm syndrome" has become widely popular and has acquired many synonyms: such names as "hostage identification syndrome" are known. Hostage Identification Syndrome ), "Syndrome common sense"(Eng. Common Sense Syndrome), "Stockholm factor" (eng. Stockholm factor), "Hostage survival syndrome" (eng. Hostage Survival Syndrome) and others. The authorship of the term "Stockholm Syndrome" is attributed to the criminologist Nils Bejerot, who introduced it during an analysis of the situation that arose in Stockholm during the hostage-taking in August 1973. The psychological defense mechanism underlying the Stockholm syndrome was first described by Anna Freud in 1936, when it received the name "identification with the aggressor."

Researchers believe that Stockholm Syndrome is not a psychological paradox, not a disorder (or syndrome), but rather a normal human response to a highly traumatic event. Thus, Stockholm syndrome is not included in any international classification system for psychiatric diseases.

According to research, Stockholm Syndrome is a fairly rare event. According to the FBI's data on more than 1,200 hostage-taking cases with barricading in the building, Stockholm syndrome was noted in only 8% of cases.

Factors affecting the formation of Stockholm syndrome

Stockholm syndrome can develop when:

• political and criminal acts of terrorism (hostage-taking);
• military punitive operations (for example, when taking prisoners of war);
• incarceration in concentration camps and prisons;
• the administration of court procedures;
• development of authoritarian interpersonal relationships within political groups and religious sects;
• implementation of some national rituals (for example, when kidnapping a bride);
• kidnapping for the purpose of enslavement, blackmail or ransom;
• outbreaks of intrafamilial, domestic and sexual violence.

The psychological defense mechanism is based on the victim's hope that the aggressor will show leniency, provided that all his requirements are unconditionally met. Therefore, the captive tries to demonstrate obedience, to logically justify the actions of the invader, to arouse his approval and patronage.

Humanizing the relationship between the invader and the victim is key in the formation of the Stockholm syndrome and is conditioned by the following factors:

Knowing that the terrorists are well aware that as long as the hostages are alive, the terrorists themselves are alive, the hostages take a passive position, they have no means of self-defense either against terrorists or in the event of an assault. The only defense for them may be a tolerant attitude on the part of terrorists. As a result, the hostages become psychologically attached to the terrorists and begin to interpret their actions in their favor. There are cases when victims and invaders were together for months, waiting for the fulfillment of the terrorist's demands.

In cases of particularly cruel treatment, hostages psychologically distance themselves from the situation; they convince themselves that this is not happening to them, that this could not happen to them, and they displace the traumatic event from their memory by engaging in specific activities.

If no harm is done to the victim, some people, being less susceptible to the syndrome in the process of adapting to this situation and feeling the potential inability of the invaders to harm them, begin to provoke them.

After release, the surviving hostages can actively support the ideas of the invaders, apply for a commutation of the sentence, visit them in places of detention, etc.

Negotiation prophylaxis and debriefing

In negotiating hostage-taking, one of the psychological tasks of the mediator is to encourage the development of mutual sympathy (Stockholm syndrome) between the hostages and the invaders in order to increase the hostages' chances of survival. Director of Research Programs of the Center for the Prevention of International Crimes, Ph.D. Adam Dolnik reported on this in an interview with Novaya Gazeta:

The negotiator is simply obliged to provoke and encourage the formation of this syndrome by any means. Because if the terrorists and the hostages like each other, then there is less chance that the hostages will do something stupid, which would entail harsh actions by the terrorists. And terrorists, in turn, will find it extremely difficult to decide to kill the hostages to whom they have sympathy.

Hostage taking in Stockholm in 1973

On August 26, the police drilled a hole in the ceiling and photographed the hostages and Olofsson, but Ulsson noticed the preparations, started shooting and promised to kill the hostages in the event of a gas attack.

August 28 gas attack still took place. In half an hour the invaders surrendered, and the hostages were taken out safe and sound.

The former hostages stated that they were afraid not of the invaders, who did nothing wrong to them, but of the police. According to some reports, they hired lawyers for Ulsson and Olofsson for their own money.

During the trial, Olofsson managed to prove that he did not help Ulsson, but, on the contrary, tried to save the hostages. All charges were dropped from him and released. On freedom, he met with Christine Enmark, and they became friends with families.

Ulsson was sentenced to 10 years in prison, where he received many admiring letters from women.

The case of Patti Hirst

Patricia Hearst was captured on February 4 by the Symbionist Liberation Army. Symbionese Liberation Army). The terrorists received $ 4 million from the Hirst family, but the girl was not returned. It was later revealed that she joined the ranks of S.A.O. under threat of murder.

Seizure of the residence of the Japanese ambassador in Lima, the capital of Peru, December 17, 1996

This is the largest ever seizure of such a large number of high-ranking hostages from different countries of the world, whose inviolability has been established by international acts.

Terrorists (members of the Peruvian extremist group Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement), who appeared as waiters with trays in their hands, seized the ambassador's residence along with 500 guests during a reception on the occasion of the birthday of Emperor Akihito of Japan and demanded that the authorities release about 500 of them. supporters in prisons.

Immediately after this hostage-taking, the public began to accuse Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori of inaction and failure to provide reliable security for the embassy, ​​the leaders of Western countries, whose citizens were among the hostages, pressured him and demanded that the safety of the hostages be a priority. when they are released. In such conditions, there was no talk of any assault on the embassy, ​​or of any other forceful measures to release the hostages.

Two weeks later, the terrorists released 220 hostages, reducing the number of their captives to make them easier to control. The released hostages puzzled the Peruvian authorities with their behavior. They made unexpected statements about the righteousness and justice of the terrorists' struggle. Being in captivity for a long time, they began to feel at the same time sympathy for their invaders, and hatred and fear in relation to those who would try to free them by force.

According to the Peruvian authorities, the leader of the terrorists, Nestor Cartolini, a former textile worker, was an exceptionally cruel and cold-blooded fanatic. A whole series of abductions of major Peruvian entrepreneurs was associated with the name of Cartolini, from whom the revolutionary demanded money and other valuables under the threat of death. However, he made a completely different impression on the hostages. Kieran Matkelf, a major Canadian businessman, said after his release that Nestor Kartolini is a polite and educated person, dedicated to his work.

The described case gave the name "lima syndrome" (eng. Lima syndrome). The situation in which terrorists have such a strong sympathy for the hostages that they are released is the opposite example (special case) of the Stockholm syndrome.

see also

Notes (edit)

Literature

• M. M. Reshetnikov. Sketches for the psychological portrait of a terrorist.
• M. M. Reshetnikov. Features of the state, behavior and activities of people in extreme situations with a vital threat.
• ... Karen Greenberg. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

See what "Stockholm Syndrome" is in other dictionaries:

Stockholm syndrome- STOCKHOLM SYNDROME (p. 568) a paradoxical reaction of affection and sympathy that arises in the victim in relation to the aggressor. This phenomenon got its name in connection with a real case that occurred on August 23, 1973. Then… … Great psychological encyclopedia

STOCKHOLM SYNDROME- the condition experienced by some people who are forcibly held hostage for a long time; in doing so, they may develop a feeling of sympathy for the criminals who have captured them. So named after a situation that arose in ... ... Legal encyclopedia

- [gr. syndrome confluence] 1) honey. a combination of signs (symptoms) that have a common mechanism of occurrence and characterize a certain disease state of the body; 2) psychol. Stockholm s. some of the hostages' desire ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Stockholm Syndrome is a psychological condition that occurs during hostage-taking, when the hostages begin to sympathize and even sympathize with their invaders or identify with them. If the terrorists are captured, then the former ... ... Wikipedia

What is its essence and can we fight it?

Stockholm syndrome: essence and history of the term

A person who has heard about such a mental phenomenon may quite rightly think: "What does Stockholm have to do with it?" The fact is that the syndrome was first discovered in August 1973 in the city of Stockholm in connection with the taking of hostages in a bank.

Stockholm Syndrome is a concept from psychology that characterizes a situation when a person who is exposed to any kind of aggression shows sympathy and compassion for his abuser. In such a situation, the victim of violence is not overwhelmed by anger or protest, but, on the contrary, she begins to feel a psychological connection with the aggressor, tries to justify his actions, and in some cases even adopts his ideas and sacrifices herself voluntarily. In a word, hostage syndrome and Stockholm syndrome are identical concepts.

Most often, a similar syndrome is observed in emergency situations associated with the seizure of hostages. But you can meet him in everyday life, in ordinary family relationships.

The case after which the study of the syndrome began

The paradoxical story that happened in 1973 in Sweden attracted not only the attention of journalists, but also famous psychologists.

In August, former prisoner Jan-Erik Olsson seized one of the Swedish banks along with four hostages. Despite the fact that Olsson threatened to kill the people taken hostage, and also held them for six days in the bank building, when the criminal was arrested, his victims suddenly rose to the defense of their tyrant. Moreover, they stated that during the storming of the bank it was the police who were afraid, and not Olsson himself.

After Olsson was taken away from the crime scene, his victims agreed to hire the best lawyer for the criminal. And even when Jan-Erik was sentenced to 10 years in prison, the hostages from the bank came to see him in the colony.

So it is not fully known how the perpetrator conquered his victims, so psychologists got excellent material for scientific articles, investigations and dissertations. However, they describe the Stockholm syndrome of books not only of a scientific nature, but also of an artistic one: "Captive in the Dark" (S. J. Roberts), "This is what brothers do" (Derekika Snake), "The Intervention of Love" (Olga Gorovaya) - in a word, Jan -Erik Olsson has enriched not only criminology, but also literature with very spicy stories.

Factors causing the syndrome

When psychologists began to analyze the Stockholm syndrome, they found that a similar phenomenon is observed not only in hostage-taking situations, but also in other circumstances: for example, during outbreaks of domestic violence, including sexual violence; or a similar scenario is realized in many folk rituals (remember the ceremony of “kidnapping the bride” at a wedding).

Psychologists explain that in such stressful situations, a person wants to believe in a favorable outcome of events and that the aggressor has not lost his humanity, that he will free his victim when the time comes. Therefore, the victim of aggression tries not to escalate the situation, to fulfill all the requirements, and most importantly, he tries to understand what kind of person is in front of him, and what can be expected from him.

If the hostage and the hostage are together for a long time, then they are forced to communicate with each other, which contributes to the humanization of relations. Moreover, the "slack" is given not only by the victims, but also by the aggressors themselves.

Household Stockholm Syndrome

Hostage syndrome is a fairly common occurrence in everyday life. It is easy to guess that it is mainly women who suffer from it. However, men who position themselves as “victims” of the current situation also occur.

Who is at risk of getting themselves Stockholm Syndrome? These are, first of all, people who believe that they are in no way able to influence their own life and environment. And since it happens that violence is shown against them, then they should only humbly accept everything that happens to them.

About how a husband mocks his wife, and she repeatedly forgives and justifies him, probably more than a dozen films have been shot. These women actually suffer from low self-esteem. They reject the most logical solution to the problem - breaking up - because they fear that they will not meet a more worthy partner in life, or even think that they do not deserve a better life. Which, of course, is an erroneous statement that is easy to "break" at an appointment with an experienced psychologist.

Prevention of the syndrome

Prevention of the Stockholm syndrome is being actively pursued by terrorists who decide to take hostages. It is completely unprofitable for them to feel sympathy for their victims, so they purposefully avoid any contact with the hostages: they often change their guards, blindfold people and shut their mouths, commit illogical and cruel acts, etc.

Law enforcement agencies, on the contrary, are trying with all their might to contribute to the development of the syndrome, since sympathy between criminals and their victims simplifies the negotiation process and gives certain guarantees that no one will get hurt.

As for the everyday syndrome, everything is much simpler there: first, you need to realize the illogicality and absurdity of your own behavior; secondly, you should contact a psychologist who, at a professional level, will help you cope with the problem.

Notable cases in Russia

Stockholm syndrome of Russia is known firsthand. For example, many prisoners of the Stalinist concentration camps literally "prayed" for the great leader, on whose orders they were arrested, and also wept for him when Joseph Vissarionovich died in 1953.

Russian women are famous for their "sacrifice", so they are more often than others find themselves in sentimental "family" stories, where either a compatriot or a foreign husband becomes their tyrant.

Notable cases abroad

Abroad, you can also find a couple of cases when you can clearly see what the Stockholm syndrome is.

The examples of the 2000s in the United States pale in comparison to the amazing case of the 70s, when the granddaughter of a newspaper billionaire, Patricia Hirst, was kidnapped by one of the terrorist organizations. Despite the fact that her family paid the kidnappers the entire amount demanded, the girl never returned to her family.

A little later it became known that she joined the organization, the Symbionist Liberation Army, which had kidnapped her. And this despite the fact that "S.A.O." used not only physical violence against her, but also sexual! After her arrest in 75, Hirst announced that she had joined the ranks of "S.A.O." under psychological pressure. After the girl served her time for robbing a bank, she returned to normal life.

What is Stockholm Syndrome and its symptoms

Stockholm Syndrome is one of those difficult and inappropriate situations that are rarely encountered in practical psychopathology. In this case, the victims become sympathetic to their own captors, regardless of the severity and form of negative attitudes towards themselves.

It is a psychological state in which the kidnapped victim develops positive feelings, which she begins to have towards the person who has deprived her of her freedom. The name of the syndrome was coined by the criminologist and psychologist Niels Beirroth. As a rule, the active manifestation of positive emotions in the victim towards his tormentor occurs at the moment when she feels that the aggressor is showing elements of kindness and care for her.

History of Stockholm Syndrome

This pathological condition gets its name from the infamous bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden. The robbery took place at Kreditbanken in 1973, by two armed men with the names Olsson and Olofsson, who held four bank employees hostage for six days. When the rescue attempts were successfully carried out at the end of the sixth day, the abducted people sided with their captors. The former hostages actively tried to thwart rescue attempts.

Even after the kidnappers surrendered and were sentenced to imprisonment, the kidnappers tried to free them. They collected money for the trial, tried to issue bail and save their offenders from harsh sentence... It was also noted that one of the captives was secretly engaged to one of the kidnappers. A unique psychological phenomenon, based on the positive feelings and emotions of the hostages towards their captors, was named as "Stockholm Syndrome".

Stockholm Syndrome - Causes

The exact cause of this psychological condition is very complex. Over the years, prominent psychiatrists and criminologists have tried to piece together several factors that could explain such strange case... Stockholm Syndrome is thought to be rooted in the development of a special condition, which is believed to appear when:

• The hostages feel that their captor is doing them a favor by taking into account their lives and needs.

This immediately personifies the kidnapper in a more positive light.

• Victims are allowed to fulfill some of their wishes.

When kidnappers provide their victims with good conditions, the hostages are beginning to see them in a more favorable light. As a rule, aggressors treat their victims very harshly, and violent behavior breeds hatred. In a moment of misfortune, the hostages expect a very bad attitude towards them, but if, contrary to their expectations, they receive kindness and even affection, they immediately change their positions and take the side of their offenders.

• Victims are isolated from the outside world.

This creates the conditions for seeing the point of view of their captors. They begin to understand the circumstances that could have caused a person to commit a crime. As a result, they try to help their captors and become sympathetic to them and their reasons.

• The abducted people begin to develop physical or emotional attachment to the abuser.

Being together for many days can help develop feelings between two members of the opposite sex. In addition, they may begin to share common interests with each other, and later even experience amorous feelings.

• Kidnapped people develop the habit of pleasing their captors.

First, it is a necessity. The abductees are forced to join their captors in order to avoid harsh treatment or even murder. But when it becomes a habit, the phenomenon can remain even in the absence of the force that causes it.

• The abductees develop a kind of addiction to their captors.

This is especially true when they do not have a family or loved one to which you can return. There is nothing worse when we are waiting at home, at best a cat. As a result, the victim feels helpless and needs a kidnapper, because in his opinion, this is the only person who spent the most terrible hours of his life with him. This becomes a necessity, even if there is a threat from the villain.

Like any other psychological condition, Stockholm syndrome has its own symptoms and signs. Some symptoms appear most often and include:

• Unshown admiration for the kidnappers.
• Resistance to the rescue operation.
• Protection of the aggressor.
• An attempt to please the kidnappers.
• Refusing to testify against your offenders.
• Refusal to run away from kidnappers if the opportunity arises.

Known cases of Stockholm syndrome

The history of forensic science remembers many cases when Stockholm syndrome showed its signs among kidnapped people. Here are some popular cases where the symptoms of the disorder were most prominent:

Heiress Patty Hirst was kidnapped by the political terrorists of the Symbionist Liberation Army in 1974. She later became a member of the group and also provided direct assistance and support in mass raids and bank robberies.

In 1998, a ten-year-old girl, Natasha Kampusch, was kidnapped in Austria. She returned home only in 2006, having escaped when her abductor lost his guard. By her own admission, she was locked in a cell for eight years. But describing the situation, she spoke about her kidnapper as a wonderful and kind person who spoiled her more than her parents.

In 2003, a 15-year-old girl named Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped by a self-proclaimed priest living in Salt Lake City. She returned home after nine months in prison. Psychologists say that she could have escaped long ago if she had not been restrained by love feelings for her captor.

Stockholm Syndrome - Treatment

Stockholm Syndrome is generally viewed as a condition that develops due to extreme stress and fear. The most effective remedy is counseling with psychiatrists and the love and support of family members. With this attitude, which must necessarily outweigh the positive emotions experienced by the victim during the abduction, Stockholm Syndrome can be eradicated in a fairly short time.

Victims who fell in love with their tormentors: shocking examples of Stockholm Syndrome

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This phenomenon was dubbed "Stockholm Syndrome" or "Hostage Syndrome" in 1973, when, during an armed robbery of a bank in Stockholm, two criminals held four employees hostage for 6 days. And after the release, the victims suddenly took the side of their captors, one of the girls even got engaged to the raider. This was not the only time that victims developed sympathy for their abusers. The most famous and shocking cases are further in the review.

In 1974, the political terrorists of the Symbionist Liberation Army kidnapped the billionaire's granddaughter, 19-year-old Patti Hirst. For 57 days, the girl was in a closet measuring 2 meters by 63 centimeters. She spent the first few days gagged, blindfolded, physically and sexually abused. The conspirators planned to exchange her for two prisoners of their group, but this plan failed, and Patty stayed with them. The girl not only did not seek to free herself, but also became a member of the group, taking part in raids and bank robberies. She was in love with one of the terrorists.

A day before her release on bail, Patty Hirst announced that she was joining the Symbionist Liberation Army: “Either remain in captivity, or use the power of SAO. and fight for peace. I decided to fight ... I decided to stay with new friends. " In 1975, the girl was arrested along with other members of the group. At the trial, Hirst spoke about the coercive nature of her activities, but the conviction was nevertheless passed.

In 1998, 10-year-old Natasha Kampusch was abducted in Vienna. For 8 years she was kept locked up by the maniac Wolfgang Priklopil. All this time, the girl was in a soundproof basement. She was able to return home only in 2006. But the girl spoke of her abductor with sympathy, claiming that he pampered her more than her parents. As it turned out, as a child, she had no friends, her parents divorced, and she felt lonely.

When Natasha was kidnapped by a maniac, she remembered a TV show in which they said that in case of resistance, abduction victims are often killed, and behaved submissively. After her release, Priklopil committed suicide. Upon learning of this, Natasha burst into tears.

In 2002, a Salt Lake City maniac kidnapped 15-year-old Elizabeth Smart. The girl spent 9 months in prison. There was a version that she could have escaped earlier, if not for the feeling of affection for the kidnapper.

Psychiatrists and criminologists have studied this phenomenon for decades and come to these conclusions. In a stressful situation, a special bond sometimes develops between the victim and the aggressor, which leads to the emergence of sympathy. At first, the hostages demonstrate a willingness to obey the aggressor in order to avoid violence and save their lives, but later, under the influence of shock, they begin to sympathize with the criminals, justify their actions and even identify with them.

This does not always happen. The cruel treatment of hostages naturally awakens hatred in them, but in the case of humane behavior, the victim begins to feel grateful. In addition, in conditions of isolation from the outside world, hostages can learn the point of view of the aggressors and understand the motives of their behavior. Often, the reasons that prompted them to commit a crime evoke sympathy and a desire in victims to help them. Stress develops physical or emotional attachment to invaders. The hostages feel grateful for being left alive. As a result, victims often show resistance during the rescue operation.

Stockholm Syndrome - Why Victims Empathize With Their Tormentors

Natasha Kampusch is one of the last kidnapped girls to be diagnosed with Stockholm syndrome by psychologists. Despite the kidnapping, restriction of freedom and rape, Kampusch felt a strong affection for her tormentor.

In most cases, the victim of abduction and violence hates his tormentor for the rest of his life, but it happens that a person, contrary to logic, is imbued with sympathy for him, and sometimes even helps him to avoid responsibility. This mental state of the victim is called Stockholm syndrome.

Where does Stockholm syndrome come from?

Sympathy and even love for the tormentor is the effect of intense stress experienced by the victim during the abduction. At first glance, incomprehensible cooperation between the victim and the kidnapper is nothing more than a desire to arouse pity or compassion in the offender.

Everything can go so far that the injured person helps to hide the traces of the crime or during the process gives false testimony in order to save the kidnapper from responsibility for his actions.

Where does the name of Stockholm syndrome come from?

The name of the syndrome comes from a bank robbery that took place from 23 to 28 August 1973 in Stockholm. The victims were placed in a bank for six days, and after their release they actively defended their executioners and refused to cooperate with the police.

Nils Bedzherot, a Swedish forensic scientist and psychologist who took part in the hearing, called the psychological state of the victims Stockholm Syndrome, and psychologists quickly picked up the name.

Stockholm Syndrome

Those who were in the camps on Stalin's orders cried about Stalin as about his own father.

Stockholm Syndrome is a psychological condition that occurs during hostage-taking, when the hostages begin to sympathize and even sympathize with their invaders or identify with them. If the terrorists are captured, then the former hostages, susceptible to Stockholm Syndrome, can be actively interested in their future fate, ask for a commutation of the sentence, visit places of detention, etc.

The authorship of the term is attributed to the criminologist Nils Bejerot, who introduced it during an analysis of the situation that arose in Stockholm during the hostage-taking in August 1973. Then two repeat offenders took four hostages, a man and three women, in the bank, and for six days threatened their lives, but from time to time they gave them some indulgences. This drama lasted a total of five days, and all this time the life of the captured hostages hung in the balance.

But at the moment of their release, something unexpected happened: the victims sided with the criminals, trying to prevent the policemen who had come to save them. And later, when the conflict was successfully resolved and the criminals were imprisoned, their former victims began to ask for amnesty for them. They visited them in prison, and one of the women taken hostage even divorced her husband in order to swear love and loyalty to the one who held a pistol at her temple for five days.

Subsequently, two women from among the hostages became engaged to the former kidnappers.

The characteristic set of signs of the Stockholm syndrome is as follows:

• The captives begin to identify with the invaders. At least initially, it is a defense mechanism, often based on the unconscious idea that the perpetrator will not harm the victim if the actions are cooperative and positively perceived. The prisoner is almost sincerely trying to get the protection of the invader.
• The victim often realizes that the measures taken by her potential rescuers are likely to harm her. Rescue attempts can turn the situation around; instead of being tolerable, it will become deadly. If the hostage does not receive a bullet from the liberators, it is possible that he will get the same from the invader.
• A long stay in captivity leads to the fact that the victim recognizes the perpetrator as a person. His problems and aspirations become known. This works especially well in political or ideological situations, when the captive learns the point of view of the invader, his resentment against the authorities. Then the victim may think that the position of the perpetrator is the only correct one.
• The prisoner emotionally distances himself from the situation, thinks that this could not happen to him, that all this is a dream. He may try to forget the situation by engaging in useless but time-consuming “hard work”. Depending on the degree of identification with the intruder, the victim may feel that the potential rescuers and their persistence are really to blame for what is happening.

Stockholm Syndrome is exacerbated when a group of hostages is divided into separate subgroups, unable to communicate with each other.

"Stockholm syndrome", more broadly understood as "hostage syndrome", manifests itself in everyday life. In everyday life, situations often arise when women who have endured violence and who remained under the pressure of their rapist for some time, then fall in love with him.

Description and characteristics of Stockholm syndrome

An acute psychological situation in which the victim is imbued with sympathy for their tormentors is called Stockholm Syndrome. This happens during the taking of hostages. If the criminals are caught, then the victim of this syndrome can actively participate in the further fate of their tormentors. Such people ask for a reduced sentence for them, visit them in prison, etc. Stockholm Syndrome is not an official neurological disease, since in hostage-taking situations only 8% succumb to its influence. The symptoms and treatment of this ailment will be described below.

First mention

In 1973, three women and one man were seized at a Stockholm bank by two kidnappers. For 6 days, they threatened to take their lives, but sometimes they gave indulgences and a little peace of mind. However, when trying to free the hostages, the rescue operation ran into an unexpected problem: all the victims tried to prevent themselves from being released and after the incident asked for amnesty for the criminals.

Each victim visited her tormentors in prison, and one of the women divorced her husband and swore love and loyalty to the guy who held a gun to her temple. The two former hostages even married their captors. This psychological reaction was first described by the forensic scientist Bijert.

Family syndrome

The most common form of hostage sympathy is considered to be the household Stockholm syndrome. This is a banal psychological and physical violence in the family. A person does not feel like a victim, and such relationships are not uncommon between husband and wife, parents and children.

Stockholm syndrome in the family

Stockholm syndrome in the family also harms the people around them, because they know about the violence, but they cannot do anything, because the victim does not consider himself a victim.

Children who grow up in such a family also become victims. From childhood, they see a negative subconscious influence even with a positive attitude. What is happening greatly affects their perception of the world. Depression often accompanies these people in adulthood.

Causes of occurrence

Psychologists have proven that a long-term emotional shock can significantly affect the subconscious of victims and change their attitude towards the aggressors. When a person is completely dependent on an aggressive offender, then he interprets all his actions in his favor - this is the mechanism of the syndrome. But this only works for psychological emotional abuse, provided that physical abuse is not applied to the victim. There are cases when the victim and the offender were together for months. In such cases, the former realized that the kidnapper would not cause physical harm, and began to provoke them. The consequences of such rash behavior can be completely different and very dangerous.

Violence in family

Stockholm hostage syndrome has the following causes:

• loyalty to victims;
• threat to life, manifested by a maniac;
• long stay of the hostage and abductor;
• only one variant of the event is possible, which is dictated by the invaders.

Symptoms of the syndrome

In order to determine the presence of the syndrome, you need to take a closer look at the person. All people who have been or are in similar situations have certain signs.

1. During long-term communication with the kidnapper, the victim distorts the real perspective of what is happening in his subconscious. She often considers the kidnapper's motives to be correct, just, and the only correct one.
2. When a person is under stress and fear for his life for a long time, all attempts and actions to improve the situation are perceived negatively. In this case, the hostage is afraid of release, because when trying to release the risk only increases. In such family relationships, the victim is afraid to make the tyrant even more angry if he starts to fight him, so he leaves everything unchanged.
3. When a person who is abused chooses the behavior of submissiveness and gratification, with long-term communication, they develop into sympathy, approval, and understanding. In such cases, the hostage acquits one of the attackers, and the victim justifies the tyrant of the house.

Survival tactics with tormentor

With prolonged contact in a relationship with a tyrant, the victim develops rules of behavior.

1. The desire to keep the peace in the family makes the victim forget about their desires and live the life of the abuser. She sets herself the task of completely satisfying all the desires of the tyrant.
2. The sufferer can convince himself of the good intentions of the domestic maniac and awaken feelings of respect, love, and encouragement.
3. When the male aggressor is in a good mood and the wife creates illusions about restoring peace in the family, fearing to break such good behavior towards her.
4. Complete secrecy of their relationships and suppression of any attempts of loved ones to help. This is due to fear and rejection of such an attitude towards the victim.
5. Such people try to avoid talking about their personal life or insist that everything is fine.

The hostage's feeling of guilt makes him think that the reasons for this behavior of the aggressor are in himself.

Getting rid of the problem

Stockholm syndrome, which manifests itself in the family, is a purely psychological reaction. Her treatment must be carried out with the help of a psychologist. The psychotherapist helps the patient to solve 3 problems:

• lack of logic in actions;
• the concept of the illusion of all hopes;
• acceptance of victim status.

An everyday case is the most difficult, thoughts and fear imposed by the aggressor can last for years. It is difficult to convince such a person to leave the tyrant - since this is the only way out of this situation.

Treatment can take from several months to several years, it all depends on the person who has been abused.

Historical examples

Real life examples prove the existence of this ailment in many people. In addition to the first mention in Stockholm, the case in Peru, when the Japanese embassy was seized by terrorists, is considered a vivid manifestation. At that moment, 500 guests of the residence and the ambassador himself were captured. Two weeks later, 220 hostages were released, who during the liberation defended their abductors and acted on their side.

Later it turned out that some of the hostages were released because of sympathy for them. Accordingly, the terrorists also developed the syndrome. This phenomenon was called the Lima seizure.

An interesting case of everyday manifestation of the syndrome can be considered the incident with Elizabeth Smart. The girl was 14 years old, she was kept locked up and raped. However, she refused to flee the tormentors at the opportunity.

Stockholm Syndrome

The term "Stockholm syndrome" means a psychological anomaly, the essence of which is that a potential victim, who initially feels a sense of fear and hatred of his tormentor, after a while begins to sympathize with him. For example, people taken hostage may subsequently feel sympathy for the bandits and without coercion try to help them, often even resisting their own release. Moreover, over a period of time, it may happen that a long-term warm relationship may develop between the victim and the invader.

Causes of Stockholm Syndrome

The described case proves that the long coexistence of the criminal and his victim sometimes leads to the fact that, in the process of close communication, they get closer and try to understand each other, having the opportunity and time to communicate “heart to heart”. The hostage "enters the situation" of the invader, learns about his problems, desires and dreams. Often a criminal complains about the injustice of life, power, talks about his bad luck and hardships in life. As a result, the hostage goes over to the side of the terrorist and voluntarily tries to help him.

Subsequently, the victim may stop wanting his own release, because he understands that the threat to his life may no longer be a criminal, but the police and special forces storming the premises. For this reason, the hostage begins to feel at one with the bandit, and tries to help him as much as possible.

This behavior is typical for a situation where a terrorist initially treats a prisoner loyally. If a person succumbs to aggression, he is tormented by beatings and threats, then of all possible feelings he can experience only fear for his life and open hostility to the aggressor.

Stockholm Syndrome is a relatively rare situation, with only 8% of prisoners being captured.

Hostage Syndrome in Stockholm Syndrome

The essence of the Stockholm syndrome lies in the fact that with absolute dependence on the aggression of the offender, the hostage begins to interpret all his actions from the good side, justifying him. Over time, the dependent person begins to feel understanding and affection, to show sympathy and even sympathy for the terrorist - with such feelings a person unconsciously tries to replace fear and anger, which he cannot afford to throw out. This chaos of feelings creates a sense of illusory security in the hostage.

This terminology has taken root after the sensational case of the capture of people in Stockholm.

In late August 1973, a dangerous criminal who had escaped from prison took over the central bank of Stockholm, along with four bank employees. The terrorist, in return for the lives of people, demanded to provide him with a certain sum of money, weapons, a refueled car, as well as the early release of his friend in the cell.

The police went to meet the criminal, freeing and delivering his freed friend to the crime scene. The rest of the requirements remained in question for another five days, during which both the terrorists and the hostages were kept in a closed bank building under the control of the police. Failure to comply with all the requirements forced the criminals to take extreme measures: a period was agreed upon during which the hostages would be killed. For the accuracy of his words, one of the robbers even wounded one hostage.

However, over the next two days, the situation changed radically. From the side of the injured and captured people, criticism began to sound that there was no need to release them, that they felt quite comfortable and were satisfied with everything. Moreover, the hostages began to ask that all the terrorists' demands be met.

However, on the sixth day, the police still managed to take the building by storm and free the captured people, arresting the criminals.

After their release, the allegedly injured people stated that the criminals were very good people and that they should be released. Moreover, all four hostages even jointly hired a lawyer to defend the terrorists.

Symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome

• Victims try to identify with the aggressors. In principle, at first, this process is a kind of immunity, a defensive reaction, which is most often based on an independently suggested idea that a bandit will not be able to harm the hostage if he will support and help him. The victim deliberately craves the indulgence and protection of the offender.
• The injured person in most cases understands that the measures that are taken to save him, in the end, may pose a danger to himself. Attempts to free the hostage may not end according to plan, something may go wrong and the life of the prisoner will be in danger. Therefore, the victim often chooses, in her opinion, the safer path - to side with the aggressor.
• Prolonged stay as a prisoner can lead to the fact that the offender appears to the victim not as a person who broke the law, but as a common person, with their problems, dreams and aspirations. This situation is especially clearly expressed in the political and ideological aspect, when there is injustice on the part of the authorities or people around them. As a result, the victim can gain confidence that the point of view of the invader is absolutely correct and logical.
• The captured face mentally moves away from reality - thoughts arise that everything that happens is a dream that will soon end happily.

Household Stockholm Syndrome

The psychopathological picture, often also called "hostage syndrome", can often be found in everyday situations. Quite often there are cases in which women who have experienced violence and aggression subsequently feel attachment to their abuser.

Unfortunately, such a picture is not uncommon in family relationships. If in a family union the wife experiences aggression and humiliation from her own spouse, then with the Stockholm syndrome she experiences exactly the same abnormal feeling towards him. A similar situation can develop between parents and children.

Stockholm syndrome in the family primarily affects people who initially belong to the psychological type of "suffering victim". Such people were "disliked" in childhood, they felt envy of the surrounding children, loved by their parents. Often they have a complex of "second rate", unworthiness. In many cases, the motive for their behavior is the following rule: if you argue less with your tormentor, then his anger will manifest less often. A bullying person takes what is happening for granted, he continues to forgive his abuser, and also protects and even justifies him in front of others and in front of himself.

One of the varieties of the domestic "hostage syndrome" is the post-traumatic Stockholm syndrome, the essence of which is the appearance of psychological dependence and attachment of the victim, to whom physical violence was used. A classic example is the restructuring of the psyche of a person who has experienced rape: in some cases, the very fact of humiliation with the use of force is taken for granted as a punishment for something. At the same time, there is a need to justify the rapist and try to understand his behavior. Sometimes there were situations when the victim sought a meeting with his abuser and expressed his understanding or even sympathy to him.

Social Stockholm Syndrome

As a rule, a person who sacrifices himself to a roommate-aggressor outlines for himself certain survival strategies that help physically and mentally survive, being daily side-by-side with the torturer. Once the conscious mechanisms of salvation, over time, remake the human personality and turn into the only way of mutual coexistence. Emotional, behavioral and intellectual components are distorted, which helps to survive in the face of endless terror.

Experts managed to identify the basic principles of such survival.

• The person tries to focus on positive emotions ("if he does not shout at me, then it gives me hope").
• There is a complete denial of negative emotions (“I don’t think about it, I don’t have time”).
• Own opinion absolutely repeats the opinion of the aggressor, that is, it completely disappears.
• The person tries to take all the blame upon himself (“I bring it on and provoke him, this is my fault”).
• The person becomes secretive and does not discuss his life with anyone else.
• The victim learns to study the mood, habits, behavior of the aggressor, literally "dissolves" in him.
• A person begins to deceive himself and at the same time believe in it: there is a false admiration for the aggressor, a simulation of respect and love, pleasure from sexual intercourse with him.

Gradually, the personality changes so much that it is no longer possible to live differently.

Stockholm Buyer Syndrome

It turns out that "hostage syndrome" can refer not only to the "victim-aggressor" scheme. An ordinary shopaholic can become a banal representative of the syndrome - a person who unknowingly makes expensive purchases or uses expensive services, and then tries to justify unnecessary spending. This situation is considered a particular manifestation of a distorted perception of one's own choice.

In other words, a person suffers from an acute form of the so-called "consumer appetite", however, unlike many people, subsequently does not recognize a waste of money, but tries to convince himself and others that the acquired things are extremely necessary for him, and if not now, then for sure.

This kind of syndrome also refers to psychological cognitive distortions and is constantly repeated mental errors and inconsistency of statements with reality. This has been repeatedly researched and proven in numerous experiments in psychology.

Stockholm syndrome in this manifestation is perhaps one of the most harmless forms of psychopathology, however, it can also have negative domestic and social consequences.

Diagnostics of the Stockholm syndrome

Modern psychological practice in the diagnosis of cognitive distortions is based on a whole combination of specially thought out clinical-psychological and psychometric methods. The main clinical and psychological option is considered to be a phased clinical diagnostic survey of the patient and the use of a clinical diagnostic scale.

The listed methods consist of a list of questions that allow the psychologist to detect deviations in various aspects of the patient's mental state. These can be affective disorders, cognitive, anxiety, provoked by a shock state or taking psychoactive drugs, etc. At each stage of the survey, the psychologist can, if necessary, move from one stage of the interview to another. If necessary, relatives or close people of the patient can be involved for the final diagnosis.

Of the other most common doctors in the practice diagnostic techniques the following can be distinguished:

• rating scale for determining the severity of psychological trauma;
• the Mississippi Post Traumatic Response Scale;
• Beck's interview to determine the level of depression;
• interviews to determine the depth of psychopathological signs;
• PTSD scale.

Stockholm Syndrome Treatment

Treatment is carried out mainly with the help of psychotherapy. It goes without saying that the use of drug therapy is far from always appropriate, since few of the patients believe that they generally suffer from any pathology. Most patients refuse to take medications due to personal circumstances, or stop the prescribed course, as they consider it inappropriate.

Properly conducted psychotherapy can be a promising treatment, since the patient's correct attitude allows him to independently develop effective options for overcoming mental changes, as well as learn to recognize illusory inferences and take the necessary measures in time, and possibly even prevent cognitive abnormalities.

The cognitive treatment regimen employs a variety of cognitive and behavioral strategies. The techniques employed aim at detecting and evaluating misconceptions and disorienting inferences and speculations. During the course of the treatment course, the patient learns to carry out the following operations:

• keep track of your thoughts that arise automatically;
• trace the relationship between your thoughts and behavior, evaluate your emotions;
• analyze the facts that confirm or refute their own conclusions;
• make a real assessment of what is happening;
• recognize functional disorders that can lead to distorted conclusions.

Unfortunately, emergency help with Stockholm syndrome is impossible. Only the victim's self-awareness of the real damage from his position, the assessment of the illogicality of his actions and the lack of perspective of illusory hopes will allow him to abandon the role of a humiliated person deprived of his own opinion. But without the advice of a specialist, it will be very difficult, almost impossible, to achieve success in treatment. Therefore, the patient should be under the supervision of a psychologist or psychotherapist throughout the entire period of rehabilitation.

Prevention of Stockholm Syndrome

During the negotiation process during hostage-taking, one of the main goals of the mediator is to push the aggressive and injured parties towards mutual sympathy. Indeed, the Stockholm syndrome (as practice shows) significantly increases the chances of the hostages to survive.

The task of the negotiator is to encourage, and even provoke the development of the syndrome.

In the future, the people who were taken hostage and survived safely will receive repeated consultations with a psychologist. The prognosis of the Stockholm syndrome will depend on the qualifications of a particular psychotherapist, on the desire of the victim himself to meet the specialist, as well as on the depth and degree of trauma to the human psyche.

The difficulty lies in the fact that all of the above psychical deviations are extremely unconscious.

None of the victims tries to understand the real reasons for their behavior. He manifests his behavior unconsciously, following a subconsciously built algorithm of actions. The victim's natural inner desire to feel safe and have protection pushes her to fulfill any conditions, even if they are invented on their own.

Movies about Stockholm Syndrome

There are many films in the world cinematography that clearly illustrate cases when hostages went to meet terrorists, warning them of danger and even overshadowing them. To learn more about this syndrome, we advise you to watch the following films:

• The Chase, USA, 1994. A criminal escapes from prison, steals a car and takes a customer hostage in a store. Gradually, the girl gets to know the kidnapper better and is imbued with warm feelings for him.
• "Excess baggage", USA, 1997. A car thief steals another BMW, not suspecting that along with the car he is also stealing a girl who hid in the trunk ...
• "Tie me up", Spain ,. A film about the kidnapping of an actress by a guy, which subsequently gave rise to mutual feelings for each other.
• “City of Thieves”, USA, 2010. An exciting film about the relationship between a robber and his former hostage.
• "Backtrace", USA, 1990. A hired killer needs to deal with a girl-artist, who became an unwitting witness to the showdown of the mafia. Having got to know the girl better, he falls in love with her and goes on the run with her.
• "Executioner", USSR, 1990. A girl is raped and, in order to take revenge, is forced to hire a bandit. However, a situation arises that forces the victim to forgive their offenders.
• Stockholm Syndrome, Russia, Germany, 2014. A young girl on a business trip to Germany is kidnapped right in the middle of the street.

Such a phenomenon as the "Stockholm syndrome" is usually regarded as paradoxical, and the developing attachment of victims to criminals is unreasonable. Is it really?

Medical Expert Editor

Alexey Portnov

Education: Kiev National Medical University. A.A. Bogomolets, specialty - "General Medicine"

Stockholm syndrome: more about the phenomenon

Domestic violence is one of the most important problems of a civilized society. In the overwhelming majority of cases, a woman is subjected to psychological or physical abuse.

Not receiving proper protection from society and law enforcement agencies, she not only does not try to defend herself, but begins to justify the manifestation of aggression on the part of the attacker. In psychology, there is a special term - Stockholm syndrome in the family, which explains the causes and essence of this phenomenon.

Identification theory as an explanation of the phenomenon

Stockholm Syndrome is a psychological phenomenon that means a victim's abnormal sympathy for a person who threatens her with physical harm. For the first time this complex psychological strategy of defense in stressful situations was substantiated by Anna Freud. Taking her father's work as a basis, she described the identification mechanism and proved its existence.

According to this theory, a person, finding himself in a situation that threatens his life, may lose a sense of the reality of what is happening to him. The dulled consciousness of the victim facilitates the process of identifying her with the attacker, the person begins to justify the torturer and help him, not even realizing the tragedy of his actions.

Such a mechanism allows a person to temporarily turn off the sense of danger and act as an outside observer of the events taking place. Later, the theory was used by psychologists to analyze the strange behavior of the hostages during the seizure of one of the banks of Stockholm by robbers.

The official name of the syndrome was given by the famous criminologist N. Bidzherot. During the investigation of the bank robbery, he noted such a strange behavior of the hostages, when they not only did not resist, but also assisted the attackers. Further analysis revealed the conditions under which the syndrome may occur:

1. Long-term presence of the victim and the attacker in the same room in close contact. The perpetrator's complaint about his plight can put psychological pressure on the victim and make her feel deeply.

2. Loyal attitude. If the perpetrators initially avoided beatings and treated the victim with sufficient respect, the likelihood of the syndrome increases significantly.

3. Dividing a large group of hostages into small ones and depriving them of the opportunity to communicate. Restricting communication provokes an acceleration of the process of identification with attackers and increases the feeling of affection that arises.

Being completely dependent on the will of the invader provokes the hostage syndrome in the victim. In addition to justifying any aggressive actions towards oneself on the part of the attacker, the person gets used to the situation and may resist release.

Here are some examples from real life. So, during the release of the hostages captured by terrorists during a bank robbery, one of the victims shielded the criminal with her body, in another case, the victim warned the criminals about the approach of special forces.

Everyday manifestation of the phenomenon

Domestic violence is rarely accompanied by the summons of special forces or the taking of a hostage, but this does not mean that it is less dangerous for the victim's life. It is in family relationships that hostage syndrome is most often manifested, when the wife patiently endures the daily beatings and insults of the man.

This situation is perceived by a woman as the norm, she tries to adapt to the tormentor and take all the blame for what is happening on herself. Official statistics cite data according to which every fifth woman has experienced the consequences of psychological or physical abuse in the family by her husband.

Typically, hostage syndrome occurs in women who belong to the psychological type of victims who are ready to suffer. The reasons for this behavior should be sought in childhood, and they are associated with a feeling of inferiority, inferiority, "disliked" by the parents.

Sometimes a woman is deeply and sincerely convinced that she is unworthy to be happy, and the current situation is a punishment sent to her from above for non-existent sins. At the same time, the victim of the Stockholm syndrome shows complete obedience to the will of the aggressor, believing that humility will help her avoid his anger.

Stockholm Syndrome forces a woman to develop adaptive behavioral strategies that can help her survive in the face of constant terror from the torturing partner. This completely changes her personality, the emotional, intellectual, behavioral components are muted.

Psychologists say: if a woman has become overly secretive, uncommunicative, completely refrains from discussing her personal life, perhaps she has become a victim of systematic domestic violence. Excessive admiration for a roommate, justifying traces of physical impact with one's own fault, lack of one's own opinion, focusing on positive emotions, dissolving into the personality of a tyrant are varieties of survival strategies.

Psychologists identify the concept of post-traumatic Stockholm syndrome, which is a consequence of physical violence against the victim. For example, in women who have experienced rape, a deep restructuring of the psyche occurs: the victim perceives what happened as a punishment, and justifies the actions of the offender. Paradoxical situations arise when the victims of such crimes even marry the offenders, however, as a rule, nothing good comes of such unions.

Stockholm Syndrome destroys the victim's mental health, making her vulnerable and defenseless in the face of the torturer's actions. Do not think that by catering to all the whims of the attacker, you can avoid further torture. Often the aggressor gets psychological pleasure from the realization of physical superiority and absolute power over a woman, and no reasonable arguments about the inadmissibility of violence will stop him.

At the moment, the state is implementing several programs aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence - a woman only needs to contact a special crisis center to receive psychological assistance.