Stockholm syndrome

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The Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in a hostage, in which the hostage exhibits seeming loyalty to the hostage-taker, in spite of the danger (or at least risk) the hostage has been put in. Stockholm syndrome is also sometimes discussed in reference to other situations with similar tensions, such as battered woman syndrome, child abuse cases, and bride kidnapping.

Origin of the name

The syndrome is named after the Norrmalmstorg robbery of Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg, Stockholm in which the bank robbers held bank employees hostage from August 23 to August 28, 1973. In this case, the victims became emotionally attached to their victimizers, and even defended their captors after they were freed from their six-day ordeal. The term 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. It is sometimes referred to as Helsinki Syndrome, sometimes deliberately for ironic effect. It originates in the substitution of one Nordic capital for another.

Capture bonding

Main article: Capture-bonding

An offshoot of the Stockholm syndrome is the aptly-used term capture-bonding defined as a bond that in some instances develops between captor and captive. The term is modeled on the Swedish woman who became so attached to one of the bank robbers who held her hostage that she broke her engagement to her former lover and remained bonded, or in bondage, to her former captor while he served time in prison.

Famous cases

Patty Hearst helped the SLA rob a bank two months after her kidnapping

Millionaire heiress Patty Hearst, after having been kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army in February 1974, helped rob a bank with the group two months later. She was arrested in September 1975, and her unsuccessful legal defense was 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 Bill Clinton in January 2001.
Elizabeth Smart, a 14-year-old girl, was kidnapped, brainwashed and repeatedly raped by a mentally ill man who coerced and molested her during the years of 2002-2003; after initial harsh imprisonment, Smart spent several months living physically unrestrained with her captors. This may not be a pure case of Stockholm Syndrome since she claims to have disliked her abductors and only cooperated out of fear.
Japanese abducted to North Korea during the late 1970s and early 1980s. After five of them were allowed to return to Japan in October 2002, they exhibited behavior of submission to the North Korean regime and, given that the regime would not allow their North Korean-born children to join them in Japan right away, attempted to go back there to join them; however, their Japanese families, seeing this as symptoms of brainwashing, restrained them, and eventually the former abductees shed their North Korean identities symbolically by shedding the pins with pictures of previous dictator Kim Il Sung on them during a press conference and denouncing the North Korean regime as a "criminal state" in subsequent interviews, which eventually led to the release of their children in 2004.
Daily Express journalist Yvonne Ridley was captured in Afghanistan by the Taliban in September 2001 and held for 11 days. During this period she promised an Imam that she would study Islam if she was allowed to return to London. Ridley became a full convert to Islam in the summer of 2003 and currently espouses strong Islamist views, describing moderate Muslims as "house slaves" [1] and standing as a parliamentary candidate for RESPECT in 2004. However, she has denied suggestions that her conversion resulted from the Stockholm syndrome, claiming that "I was horrible to my captors. I spat at them and was rude and refused to eat. It wasn't until I was freed that I became interested in Islam." [2]

Other uses

Outside of the criminal context, a form of the syndrome may take place in military basic training, in which "training is a mildly traumatic experience intended to produce a bond", with the goal of forming military units which will remain loyal to each other even in life-threatening situations.

Similarly, the effects of the "hazing" system of induction into groups such as fraternities and sororities have been compared to the syndrome. In cultural anthropology a similar symptom is common to bride capture situations.

Loyalty to a more powerful abuser — in spite of the danger that this loyalty puts the victim in — is common among victims of domestic abuse, battered partners and child abuse (dependent children). In many instances the victims choose to remain loyal to their abuser, and choose not to leave him or her, even when they are offered a safe placement in foster homes or safe houses. This syndrome was described by psychoanalysts of the object relations theory school (see Fairbairn) as the phenomenon of psychological identification with the more powerful abuser.

Evolutionary and psychoanalytic explanations

For an interpretation of the syndrome from the perspective of evolutionary psychology, see capture-bonding.

According to the psychoanalytic view of the syndrome, the tendency might well be the result of employing the strategy evolved by newborn babies to form an emotional attachment to the nearest powerful adult in order to maximize the probability that this adult will enable - at the very least - the survival of the child, if not also prove to be a good parental figure.

Popular culture references

Books

The seventh Tempe Brennan novel, Monday Mourning(2004), (by American author Kathy Reichs) centers around a case involving the Stockholm Syndrome. Chapter 30 contains a concise, yet comprehensive, analysis and discussion of the syndrome and its effects.

In George Orwell's "1984", Winston starts to feel a nonsexual love for his torturer O'Brien. Interestingly, this book was written in 1947, many years before the incident in Stockholm, Sweden.

I Am Regina, a young adult novel by Sally M. Keehn, is a fictionalized account of a true story of a young girl who was abducted by Indians during the French-Indian war. In the book, the Indians change Regina's name to Tskinnak and as she grows up among the Delaware, she gradually grows to care very much for them, slowly losing nearly all memory her life as Regina.

In Ann Patchett's Bel Canto, the hostages ultimately befriend and love the terrorists who had captured them.

In Artemis Fowl, a series of books by Eoin Colfer, Lower Elements Police captian Holly Short is kidnapped by the 12-year-old title character Artemis Fowl II. After she is released, she has a tendency to sympathize with Artemis, and in spite of her grudge, joins the boy on many of his adventures. As the story goes on, the two develop a loyal friendship, though Holly tends to deny it.

In A Series Of Unfortunate Events, a series of grim books for young readers, Daniel Handler, under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket, makes reference to Stockholm syndrome when comparing the children and villians in the story.

Film, television, and video games

All three Law & Order programs
Manny & Lo 1996 Movie with Mary Kay Place and a very young Scarlett Johansson as narrator/lead actor. A young girl (Scarlett/Manny) and her barely older pregnant sister are on the run from unknown captors. They shack up in empty model homes, or even just in the back of their station wagon. Once they realize they don't know anything about birthing babies, they decide to kidnap someone who does. To this end they find the perfect helpmate in quirky, loner Elaine (played beautifully by Mary Kay Place) who though banished from the nursing profession, wears her nursing whites with pride.
Blue Velvet
Buffalo '66
Matlock: The Kidnapping
Die Hard A doctor appearing on a television show describing the phenomenon refers to it as Helsinki Syndrome. The bumbling host says this refers to "Helsinki, Sweden", and the doctor corrects him, saying "Finland."
Dog Day Afternoon (based on a true story)
The World Is Not Enough (a James Bond film), female antagonist, Electra King, falls in love and helps her terrorist captor.
Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst
Six Feet Under, episode 44 ("That's My Dog").
In the videogame Metal Gear Solid, Solid Snake refers to Dr. Hal "Otacon" Emmerich's attraction to terrorist Sniper Wolf as Stockholm syndrome, although this may be an example of gallows humour provoked by exasperation.
CSI Miami, episode 13, season 3: Rex Linn starring as Detective Frank Tripp suggests the case at hand might be an example of the Stockholm syndrome.
In Truth or Consequences, N.M. (1997) a couple played by Kevin Pollak and Kim Dickens is taken hostage by Vincent Gallo and Keifer Sutherland. He begins to be friends with them, while she is outraged by his behavior.
In the movie John Q, Denzel Washington's character takes hostages in a hospital. The hostages later sympathize with him and even side with him.
Nip/Tuck, episode 3.14 ("Cherry Peck"). Kimber Henry shows signs of Stockholm syndrome after ostensibly sympathizing with The Carver after he kidnapped and tortured her.
In the Bollywood film Khalnayak, a police officer goes undercover to capture an escaped prisoner; she allowing herself to be kidnapped, but then falls in love with him, teaming up with him in the end.
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
"Blame it on Lisa", an episode of The Simpsons involves Homer being kidnapped in Brazil and identifying with his captors.
In the horror film Saw II, the character of Amanda begins to appreciate her kidnapper, Jigsaw.
In The Edukators, a rich man captured by a band of German discontents makes no effort to escape and actually lies to protect his captors. However, upon release, he turns them in.
Futurama, episode 3.12 ("Insane in the Mainframe") - When the crew is held hostage by insane robot Roberto, Bender pleads for his life by saying, "Don't kill me yet! I think I'm starting to come down with Stockholm Syndrome... handsome!"
In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Suddenly Human", a child abducted during war is believed by Dr. Beverly Crusher to exhibit signs of the Stockholm Syndrome.
In House, the character Dr. Foreman tells the other fellows working with him under Dr. House that they have Stockholm Syndrome for being able to like Dr. House in spite of how abrasive he is.
In Malcolm in the Middle, episode 4.18 "Reese's Party", Reese develops Stockholm Syndrome for a gang that has taken over the house.
In the 1991 TV movie Cry in the Wild: The Taking of Peggy Ann, based on a true story, a man kidnaps a girl hoping to make her his own, and she ultimately begins to sympathize with her captor
In 1999 anime series Infinite Ryvius produced by Sunrise, best pilot of spaceship Ryvius, Juli Bahana, falls in love with despotic leader of the ship, Aires Blue. Many fans believe, that it could be an effect of Stockholm syndrome (however, it has not been clearly mentioned in the series).
In the 2002 movie Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.
In Close to Home March 2006
The Phantom of the Opera
In ER (TV series), episode 3.15 "The Long Way Around", Carol develops sympathy for one of the convenience store captors.
In the movie Airheads, hostages begin to identify with and eventually assist their captors.
Babylon 5 Helsinki syndrome mentioned in the fourth-season episode The Illusion of Truth
The X-Files Helsinki syndrome mentioned in the fifth-season episode Folie a Deux by Fox Mulder.

Music

Muse has a song called Stockholm Syndrome from the album Absolution released in 2003.
American singer/songwriter Dory Previn, herself a victim of emotional abuse and criminal captivity as a child, wrote a song entitled "With My Daddy in the Attic", dealing with Stockholm Syndrome and fantasies of incest.
Yo La Tengo has a song called Stockholm Syndrome from the album I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One.
Blink-182 has a song called Stockholm Syndrome from the album Blink-182.
The Swedish punk rock band Backyard Babies has released an album called Stockholm Syndrome.
Nirvana has a song called Paper Cuts that somewhat describes a hostaged person with Stockholm syndrome from the album Bleach.
The Who are working on a song for their new album, called "Black Widow's Eyes", which accurately describes Stockholm syndrome.
Slipknot's song Iowa, from the Iowa album, hints at captor adoration, from the captor's perspective.B

References

External links

Love and Stockholm Syndrome: The Mystery of Loving an Abuser Psychologist Dr Joseph Carver, writing at CounsellingResource.com
Nils Bejerots articles about the events at Norrmalmstorg (in Swedish)
"Kidnapping of the mind: The Stockholm Syndrome Examined": Why do some hostages side with their captors? Why do battered wives identify with their husbands, even after consistent, repeated abuse?
Ask Yahoo!: What is "Stockholm Syndrome"?

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