Hostage-taking: motives, resolution, coping and effects

Abstract

SummaryTaking hostages has a long history as a method, with variable effectiveness, of securing concessions from individuals, organisations and governments. More recently, it has become a popular tactic among terrorist organisations. Although the resilience of individuals should never be underestimated, there is evidence that being taken hostage can have enduring effects, particularly on children. Individuals vary in how they cope with such an experience, both during and subsequent to it. The literature demonstrates that the research base is limited, and many important questions remain to be answered. Hostage-taking is an area of clinical and scientific interest. Apart from the need to establish the most effective post-incident interventions for individual hostages and their families, there are opportunities to develop further insights into the dynamics and effects of unequal power relationships.

Psychological support post-release of humanitarian workers taken hostage: the experience of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

“…The most common reactions mentioned by former hostages after their release are feelings of helplessness, guilt, sadness, anxiety, and doubts about previously accepted values, numbing of emotions, and irritability, as well as hyper-vigilance, difficulty in making decisions and memory disturbances, reactions which have been documented as well in persons exposed to critical incidents (Alexander & Klein, 2010;Correctional Service of Canada, 1997;Fletcher, 1996;Garden-Breche, 2003; Hostage UK, n.d.-a; Rudge & Regel, 2014). A feeling of guilt for having caused anxiety to their families, or for the way they responded to events during captivity, has often been observed.…”

“…Sometimes hostages become emotionally closer to their abductors in order to create a less hostile environment (Damiani & Lebigot, 2009;Garden-Breche, 2003). In such cases, they fear stigmatisation and rejection by friends, colleagues and society upon their release, because of displayed behaviours resonant with Stockholm syndrome (Alexander & Klein, 2010).…”

“…A realistic time frame for recovery also takes into consideration the context and the duration of captivity as well as all additional potentially traumatic events. Documented key factors for resilience and recovery are family and social support, religious beliefs, physical activity, routines decided by oneself (Alexander & Klein, 2010;Armstrong et al,1995) and professional reintegration. It is also important to monitor cognitive and behavioural avoidances (Navia & Ossa, 2003), cautioning against the excessive use of alcohol and other substances.…”

Exploring Individual Factors Associated with Critical Incidents in a Secure Psychiatric Setting: A Preliminary Study

“…This includes responding to hallucinations or disturbed thoughts (Alexander & Klein, 2010;Coid, 2002;Fuselier, 1988). It is important, however, not to regard a decision to engage in a critical incident as being driven solely or primarily by mental illness or disorder.…”

“…This resulted in the death of 69 people, including 39 foreign hostages. Such incidents are clearly therefore characterized by significant risk of negative outcomes (Alexander & Klein, 2010), making development of our empirical understanding of those involved in the perpetration of such incidents crucial.…”