The Stockholm Syndrome: Beauty And The Beast

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Stockholm Syndrome is a phenomenon in which "a hostage begins to bond, identify with, or sympathize with his or her captor." Nils Bejerot first coined this term to describe the bonding between captors and their hostages. When people hear the term Stockholm Syndrome, they usually associate it with high-profile kidnapping and hostage cases. Although many people use Beauty and the Beast to explain what it means, in reality, Beauty and the Beast is not an accurate example. Unlike many Stockholm Syndrome hostages, Belle was a willing prisoner. She chose to be the Beast's prisoner in exchange for her father's freedom, and by the time he falls in love with her, he actually gives her the choice to leave, which is something captors do not do.
Because of this, both characters come to depend on their captors and feel some guilt whenever they think about escaping. Since the discovery of Stockholm Syndrome, there have been many cases that fit the criteria, yet some people do not believe it is a real disorder. This is mainly because Stockholm Syndrome is rarely studied, and it is not even in the bible of Psychology, the DSM V. Some argue that victims do not identify or bond with their captors, but that they are mostly too terrified to leave. Many of the victims of Stockholm Syndrome are usually women. The first time Stockholm Syndrome was discovered was back in 1974 in Norrmalmstorg, Stockholm, Sweden. One man took four hostages during a bank heist in Norrmalmstorg, and during the six-day ordeal, he ended up forming an emotional relationship with the hostages. Because of this, the hostages refused to leave the captor's side. How did he manage to do this?
Shirley conducted interviews with 18 women and 3 men between the ages of 26 and 52. She found that victims who were abused by family members often did not report the abuse due to emotional attachment. Shirley's study aimed to inform policy makers on how to help victims and she asked survivors 5 questions about their experiences with child sexual abuse, its impact on their lives, recovery, and what changes they would make to the criminal justice system. Shirley transcribed the responses and found that victims had difficulty justifying their answers. She also concluded that family members or close friends often influenced the victim's decision to report the abuse, either due to loyalty to the abuser or lack of knowledge about the abuse.

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