Stockholm Effects and Psychological Responses to Captivity in Hostages Held by Suicide Terrorists.

Abstract

October 2002, 800 plus hostages were held for three days in a Moscow theater by suicide terrorists armed with bombs. The stand-off ended when Russian Special Forces gassed and stormed the theater. One hundred thirty of the hostages died. The authors - an American psychologist and colleagues from the Russian Academy of Sciences - began to collaborate soon after the event. This article reports on interviews with eleven hostages regarding their psychological responses to captivity including their expressions of Stockholm syndrome.