Stockholm Syndrome: The 1973 Bank Hostage Crisis

On the morning of August 23, 1973, an escaped convict entered a busy bank in Stockholm, Sweden. The criminal pulled a gun out that he had hidden under his jacket and began to fire at the ceiling. These gunshots alerted everyone in the bank that their was a threat to their safety. A police officer was also alerted, by a silent alarm, and was wounded by the criminal while attempting to stop the robbery. The criminals intent was only to rob the bank but he found himself in a predicament and took four bank employees as hostages. These four hostages were strapped with dynamite and held in the bank’s vault. The criminal began negotiating with police. He asked for $700,000 in Swedish and foreign currency, a getaway car and the release of a

They create an imbalance in the relationship by controlling all aspects of it. They also threaten the victim with death or injury. These situations can cause the victim to express an unconscious and desperate act of self-preservation. The example of this would be the kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst. In 1974, after ten weeks in captivity, Patty helped her kidnappers rob a bank in California (Patty Hearst kidnapped). Despite her claim that she was brainwashed by her captors, she was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison. Her sentence was commuted after twenty-one months and she was later pardoned by President Clinton in 2001(Patty Hearst kidnapped). Another example would be at age fourteen, Emily Smart was kidnapped from her home. She did not attempt to escape her captors even though she was tethered to a tree, raped daily and cut off from all contact with the outside world. She testified after her rescue that she did not run away or reveal her true identity to people she came into contact with when her captors took her out in public. Elizabeth Smart commented that,” you don’t need to have affection for a captor in order to be compliant-fear is enough(2010, November 13).” This proves that the survival instinct is at the heart of Stockholm syndrome.

Victims of Stockholm syndrome can exhibit insomnia, nightmares, general irritability, difficulty concentrating, confusion, distrust and flashbacks (Stockholm Syndrome). Victims can experience the same “gut” feelings, the same smells, the sense of terror, and all the other emotions they experienced at the time of the crisis. This is called emotional memory. It is your brain’s way of protecting you. This automatic function can make coping after Stockholm syndrome