Just How Ridiculous is the Stockholm Syndrome?

Abuse, captivity, terror, pain, and sometimes even murder. After experiencing these traumas, some individuals develop an emotional bond with their captors. Would you be capable of seeing the justification of your captor’s action and be unwilling to testify?

The Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response which occurs when hostages or abuse victims emotionally bond with their captors or abusers during intimate time together. This psychological connection develops over the course of the days, weeks, months, or even years of captivity or abuse.

With the syndrome, hostages or abuse victims come to sympathise with their captives. This is the opposite of the fear, terror, and disdain that would be expected from them when faced with their situations. Victims begin to share common goals and causes and develop negative feelings toward the police or authorities. Unbelievably, they can reject help that would enable them to escape the situation that they are in.

However, the syndrome has never been included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders even though it is estimated to occur during about 5% of kidnappings in the US. This is mainly due to the lack of a consistent body of academic research.

What is the history?

Episodes of what is known as Stockholm syndrome have likely occurred for many decades or even centuries. But what most people have presumed is that the syndrome was first recognised in Stockholm.

This term was first used by the media in 1973 when four hostages were taken during a bank robbery in Stockholm. There, 2 men held 4 people hostage for a total of 6 days. After they had been freed, the hostages defended their captors and would not agree to testify in court against them. This was paradoxical due to the fact they had been starved and one of the hostages minorly injured.

After the incident, psychologists and mental health experts assigned the term “Stockholm syndrome” to the condition that occurs when hostages develop an emotional or psychological connection to the people who held them in captivity

Examples through history

Probably the most famous case of the syndrome is Patty Hearst. The granddaughter of businessman and newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst was kidnapped in 1974 by the Symbionese Liberation Army. During her captivity, she renounced her family, adopted a new name, and even joined the organisation in robbing banks. Later, Hearst was arrested and tried to use Stockholm syndrome as a defense in her trial. It was not and she was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Another example is the notorious story of Natascha Kampusch. In 1998, then 10-year-old Natascha was kidnapped and kept underground in a dark and insulated room for more than 8 years by her kidnapper, Wolfgang Přiklopil. During that time, he showed her both kindness and brutality, beating her and threatening to kill her. After Natascha managed to escape Přiklopil committed suicide. News accounts at the time reported that Natascha “wept inconsolably” after finding out the fate of her kidnapper. If her actions are due to the Stockholm Syndrome or reminder of the torment she lived through, we will never know.

Finally, in 1933, four men held 25-year-old Mary McElroy at gunpoint and chained her to walls in an abandoned farmhouse. They held her in captivity and demanded a ransom from her family. When she was released, she refused to name and identify her captors in their subsequent trial and publicly expressed sympathy for them.

Prevalence in today’s society

During some abusive relationships, abused individuals develop emotional attachments to their abuser. Sexual, physical, and emotional abuse can last for years. Over this time, a person may develop positive feelings or sympathy for the person abusing them.

In some cases of sex trafficking, individuals who are traded often rely on their captors for necessities, like food and water. When the abusers provide that, the victim may begin to develop positive feelings towards their abuser. They may also resist cooperating with police for fear of retaliation or thinking they have to protect their abusers in order to protect themselves.

Quite interestingly, people can have the Stockholm syndrome during sports training. Some relationships during sports coaching can be negative like harsh coaching techniques which can become abusive. The athlete may tell themselves their coach’s behavior is for their own good and this can ultimately become a form of Stockholm syndrome.

Bottom line

I think going as far as saying the syndrome is ridiculous would not be right and fair. In order to cast a judgement we would have to experience the traumas before making up our mind. I can easily see myself feeling sympathy for a criminal after he has shared his troubled childhood and past with me however I could not side with someone who I have seen to harm and an innocent bystander. Ultimately everyone’s level of feeling sympathy for someone is different and therefore everyone will have a different opinion on this subject.