Stockholm Syndrome: Causes, Effects, and Treatment

Introduction to Stockholm Syndrome

"Men, when they receive good from whence they expect evil, feel the more indebted to their benefactor." — Niccolò Machiavelli

Stockholm syndrome is a psychological condition in which those who are held captive learn to sympathize with their captors. Instead of trying to escape the conditions they are in, victims become part of the twisted psychology of those in control (Kocsis 266). It was named for the first reported incidence of the phenomenon following a bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden, in which captives were held for six days and became emotionally attached to their captors — even defending them after the ordeal was over.

Origins and the Stockholm Bank Robbery

It is a very serious condition affecting approximately 25–30% of all hostage situation victims. People affected by Stockholm syndrome can suffer serious psychological repercussions for years, and may be affected for the rest of their lives if not properly treated. For psychologists dealing with patients affected by Stockholm syndrome, it is important to be mindful of both the short-term and long-term effects on the patient.

Psychiatrist Frank Ochberg is credited with defining Stockholm syndrome. He stated that it is "a primitive gratitude for the gift of life," comparing it to an infant's gratitude toward a mother (Ties). In August 1973, Dr. Nils Bejerot was sent to work as a psychiatric negotiator during a bank robbery in which criminals had taken hostages. Police at the scene believed that the situation could only end in bloodshed (486). Fortunately, this was not the case. Although one of the thieves had shot at a policeman and nearly killed him, Bejerot determined that the man did not intend to harm the hostages — partly because of the emotional dependency the hostages had given him.

In the Stockholm bank robbery case, feelings of affection continued well after the incident had ended. One of the female bank tellers actually became engaged to one of her captors (Kohlrieser 12). The syndrome typically develops in stages: hostages first develop positive feelings for their captors, then exhibit negative feelings toward authority figures — including fear, distrust, and anger toward police and other "outsiders." The third stage, which is the most hopeful, occurs when the criminals return the emotional attachment of the victims, becoming kinder toward them and less likely to cause harm (Fabrique 13). Most psychologists today advocate encouraging hostages to develop symptoms of the syndrome, because it statistically reduces the likelihood that the incident will end in violence against the victims.

In the novel My Abandonment, which author Peter Rock asserts is based on a true story, a young girl named Caroline is discovered to have been living in a makeshift cave with her father. The father is severely mentally disturbed, but Caroline accepts his paranoid beliefs as truth. Caroline is a compelling example of a Stockholm syndrome victim. In a library scene, she is reprimanded by her father for revealing her name to a librarian: "I'm not supposed to tell strangers my name" (Rock 23). The first step of her indoctrination has been to keep her as isolated as possible — even her name is permitted only between father and daughter. Father has taught his child that he alone is the person she can rely on. No one else is to be spoken to or engaged with unless he gives her permission.

Conditions That Produce Stockholm Syndrome

This might appear to be the behavior of an overprotective parent, except that Caroline is discouraged from speaking with the police — an authority figure she has been taught to fear. When the father is taken in for questioning and Caroline is expected to follow, she echoes his words: "This is a misunderstanding" (Rock 46). Caroline has only the identity her father has given her and only the information he has provided. She believes him and adopts his beliefs and perceptions, despite the contradiction between his words and her own sense of logic and reality.

According to Nathalie Fabrique of the FBI, there are four potential conditions that can result in captives exhibiting symptoms of Stockholm syndrome. The first occurs when hostages begin to view their abductors as life-givers — people who choose not to take a life, even though they are fully capable of doing so. The second condition arises when the hostage feels isolated from other people. Literally separated from the outside world, the hostage's only source of information is filtered through the captor's perceptions, and the biases of that captor eventually become the hostage's own.

The third condition is when the captor threatens violence and the victim discovers that cooperation makes the captor less hostile. Existence becomes easier when resistance ceases. By this point, the victim has been psychologically broken down. The fourth and final condition is the perception of kindness. When the victim begins to view the captor as exhibiting kindness — which may be as minimal as simply not inflicting abuse — they become more dependent. Perceived kindness is always relative to how the captive has been treated previously.

It is important to keep in mind the attitudes of captors toward their captives, and vice versa, when working with potential victims of Stockholm syndrome. Often, victims will be unable to assess their captors negatively or to give accurate accounts of their experiences until time and counseling has freed them from the captor's influence. FBI experts have concluded that "the intensity, not the length of the incident, combined with a lack of physical abuse more likely will create favorable conditions for the development of Stockholm syndrome" (Fabrique 13). When violence or abuse — whether physical or sexual — ceases, or expected abuse never materializes, the victim feels gratitude toward the person who withheld that harm. This gratitude can eventually deepen into a more complex perceived emotional bond.