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October 28, 2005
The Bramble Bush
by Kevin Morford

Stockholm Syndrome

     On August 23, 1973, three women and one man were taken hostage in one of the largest banks in Stockholm, and held prisoner for six days by two desperate criminals. Although their lives were threatened, their captors also talked with them, and showed them some small kindnesses. All of the hostages came to identify with their captors, and resisted the government’s efforts to rescue them. Even four months after their ordeal was over, they still had warm feelings toward the men who terrorized them in the bank, and did not want to testify against them in court.

     These are the real life events that led to the name “Stockholm Syndrome” being applied to the psychological phenomena where victims of violence come to identify and sympathize with the perpetrators. It is much more common than is generally recognized, and is not limited to hostage situations. This reaction can be found in varying degrees among some victims of domestic violence, prisoners of war, and members of religious cults, along with many other groups. The elements which lead to it are 1) a real or perceived threat to survival; 2) a real or perceived inability to escape from that threat; 3) some real or perceived kindnesses which are shown by the perpetrators of the threat; and 4) some level of isolation from other perspectives.

     Stockholm Syndrome is a survival mechanism. Victims who genuinely come to identify with their captors when there is no chance of escape may be more likely to survive than those who do not. The genuine nature of the identification with the captor is illustrated by the fact that the identification often continues long after the threat has ceased to exist.

     The heiress Patty Hearst is a famous example of this. After being kidnapped in February of 1974, she came to identify with her kidnappers, took on the nom-de-guerre “Tanya” and participated in a bank robbery with members of the Symbionese Liberation Army. Even after she was arrested by police, she continued to identify with her kidnapers during a court hearing. Over time, however, she came to reject the revolutionary causes she had embraced as Tanya.

     Once you know about Stockholm Syndrome, you can see it playing out in many situations. I see it in the nations with a “strong man” form of government, where terror is used to ensure political conformity, and where snitches are ubiquitous. I see it in the rebellious draftee who is broken down in boot camp and comes to embrace military values. I see it in the worker in a company town who so thoroughly embraces the interests of the company that he or she votes against candidates who promise health and safety reforms at the company.

     In Alaska, I see it in those voters whose livelihoods are so tied to the interests of the oil companies that they oppose all efforts to capture more of the oil wealth for the citizens of Alaska. The oil companies dribble out some meager financial benefits to their employees, while extracting huge sums of money from the publicly owned oil. They maintain an aura of invincibility by purchasing the best media and politicians that money can buy. Some may protest that the oil companies do not rely on violence to promote their interests, at least in Alaska. But for some people, their identities are so tied up with their jobs that the threat of losing their employment is just as devastating as the threat of losing their life. Sometimes it is even more devastating. The loss of a job is a trigger for a significant number of suicides.

     Not everyone in the oil industry has fallen victim to Stockholm Syndrome. I know people employed in the oil industry who talk privately about an atmosphere of political intolerance at work, and who are afraid of letting their political beliefs become known to their employer. Certain political beliefs lead to retaliation by oil field employers, and that atmosphere of repression leads to Stockholm Syndrome among some employees. It is up to those of us who are not dependent on the oil industry, and those who are still willing to stand up to them, to insist that Alaskans get their fair share of the oil wealth.






Kevin Morford is a political activist and an attorney in private practice in the Anchorage area.  He can be reached at kmorford@insurgent49.com.
- Columnists -

Editor's Desk
by Aaron Selbig

Red Alert
by Soren Wuerth

Alaskan In Exile
by Neil Zawicki

The
Bramble Bush
by Kevin Morford





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in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership.