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Stockholm Syndrome

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Stockholm Syndrome
August 23, 1973 Kreditbanken in Stockholm, Sweden a two armed robbers escorted four bank employees into the vault, where they remained for five days. The space was very limited, and supplies even more so, the six of them were in near constant contact with one another and no one else. The robbers were careful to put in place a few methods to keep possibility of rescue relatively low. Dynamite and snare traps attached to the victims was the preferred preventative measure to stop or slow police progress, if the robbers were attacked the hostages would die and rescue efforts were for nothing. The police brought the situation to an end and after the hostages were freed they defended the armed robbers, not out of threat of violence, instead because they had formed a bond and saw the robbers in a positive way. Two of the previous hostages set up a fund in order to help pay for defense fees in court to defend the captors.
Although not deeply documented a form of the syndrome may have afflicted slaves after being freed under the Emancipation Proclamation. The master presided over the land the slaves were allotted to, no outside contact may be made, escape often had penalty of death, and all facilities were provided by the master. Some slaves were against the idea of leaving slavery, thereby entranced by the syndrome. ( Krasnec)
Stockholm syndrome is a term used to describe when a kidnap or barricade victim sees their captor in a positive way and forms a bond with them. The captor is no longer a wolf among sheep they are identified as another human being, one who controls life and death. Simply waving a gun around and shouting orders does not trigger the response of actual compliance, initially it is simply fear for life. While much is still unknown about the syndrome it has been theorized that there are four contributing factors to the development of the syndrome “perceived threat to one’s physical or psychological survival at the hands of an abuser(s), perceived



Cited: Cantor, Chris. N.p.. Web. 15 Dec 2012. . DE FABRIQUE, NATHALIE. N.p.. Web. 22 Nov 2012. . Krasnecntor, Katina . N.p.. Web. 22 Nov 2012. . Speckhard, Anne. N.p.. Web. 22 Nov 2012. .

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