TOEFL iBT Reading Materials - The Stockholm Syndrome
The Stockholm Syndrome
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% C. r9 E# _% f2 V' {: C/ A6 ~Coined by criminologist and psychologist Nils Bejerot, the Stockholm syndrome is a psychological state in which victims of a kidnapping, persons detained against their will, or victims of abuse develop a relationship with their captors or abusers. The syndrome is named after the famous Norrmalmstorg bank robbery that occurred on August 23, 1973. In this incident, an ex-convict, 32-year-old Jan-Erik "Janne" Olsson attempted to rob the Kreditbanken, one of Stockholm's largest banks. The attempt was unsuccessful and resulted in four bank employees being taken hostage. During this time Olsson and his accomplice, Clark Olofsson - brought in at Olsson's request to act as negotiator between himself and the police - forced the four bank employees (one man and three women) into an 11-by-47-foot vault. Olsson and Olofsson strapped dynamite to the hostages and rigged them to snare traps so that they would be killed if anyone attempted rescue. At one point, Olofsson called the Swedish prime minister, Olof Palme, threatening to strangle one of the women. The ordeal lasted six days but ended without bloodshed on August 28, 1973.
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- D1 e$ @$ L% m1 `# G$ L( QDespite the life-threatening conditions, the hostages did not, as one would expect, exhibit anger, resentment, or hostility toward their captors. Instead, they exhibited an emotional bond with their captors, even going so far as protesting their arrest. Surprising to many, the bank employees continued to support and defend the two robbers well after their six-day ordeal was over. In the legal procedures that followed, the victims proved to be uncooperative and were reported to have publicly decried their rescue. In fact two of the former captives set up a fund to help raise money for the legal fees the robbers accrued. This emotional bond felt by an abused individual defines the Stockholm syndrome. ) _* g7 W) G# k/ d3 i% z" p
" F$ ]- H: T1 Z4 w5 [3 mThough the term was coined after the 1973 Norrmalmstorg bank robbery, psychologists have observed this same emotional attachment in many other situations. Other cases include airplane hostages, kidnap victims, concentration camp survivors, prisoners of war, victims of familial abuse, and cult members. In such circumstances, four main conditions are present: a perceived threat, the real or perceived inability to escape, isolation from perspectives other than those of the abuser, and small kindnesses offered by the abuser to the victim. # H5 R$ K/ t" a7 z
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When people witness or are threatened directly with violence, and are emotionally or physically isolated and dependent, the victims will do everything in their power to make the situation non-threatening to the abuser. They may try to please the abuser or gain his or her sympathy. This is especially true when the victims perceive the situation as inescapable. + A hostage, for instance, might be threatened with a knife or gun, which makes escape seem impossible. + A victim of spousal abuse may perceive mutual financial commitments or children as preventatives to escape. + As a result, it is not uncommon for victims to start seeing through the abusers' eyes. +Ultimately, the victims begin to identify with the abusers. By choosing to identify with the abusers, victims feel they have some control. Similar to what happened to the bank employees in the Norrmalmstorg bank robbery, victims of familial abuse often alienate themselves from those trying to help, such as supportive friends or relatives. In some extreme cases victims even take out restraining orders against them. Whenever the victims perceive the abusers as being kind to them - by allowing them to eat, drink, use the bathroom, or even letting them live - they interpret this as a positive trait of the abusers, thereby creating in the victims' minds a basis for affection. $ G0 m3 Q/ y- T5 r
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Stockholm syndrome produces an unhealthy bond with the abuser. This is the reason many victims continue to support an abuser after the relationship is over. This is also the reason victims continue to see the good side of an abusive individual and appear sympathetic to someone who has mentally or physically abused them. It is important to understand that the victim adopts this attitude as a means of survival and does not purposely choose this way of thinking.
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