NCJ Number
85900
Editor(s)
F M Ochberg,
D A Soskis
Date Published
1982
Length
204 pages
Annotation
Criminologists and biomedical and behavioral researchers discuss terrorism victims' stress reactions and coping mechanisms.
Abstract
Beginning with the victim's perspective, the volume presents a Dutch newspaper editor's 'raw account' of his 12 days as a hostage of South Moluccans in 1975. His story illustrates the roles victims often adopt during and after the terrorist incident, as well as stress and coping mechanisms. A discussion of the meaning of stress encompasses both physical and psychological reactions; a description of coping behavior includes examples of similar psychological adjustments adopted by prisoners of war and concentration camp victims. The effects of captivity include the prolonged psychological impact on both the victim and his or her family. Researchers extend specific unconscious defense mechanisms used by victims of Nazi captivity to long-term and second-generation effects on psychological and physical functioning. Treatment approaches effective with victims of crimes, derived from professional experience in policing and psychology, may be applicable to clinical work with terrorist victims. Another paper on clinical applications illustrates research techniques and problems with victims (especially children) whose development may suffer because of the terrorist event. One theoretical essay delves into the concept of 'victim' and its relation to the value of human life, comparing terrorist events to disasters, rapes, and other extreme situations in order to construct a typology of victims' responses. A discussion of the 'Stockholm syndrome' stresses the psychological dynamics by which victims come to identify with their captors. Authors urge collaboration between law enforcement professionals and behavioral scientists in working with victims. The volume concludes with guidelines for future planning and suggestions for treating former hostages or victims. Individual chapters contain footnotes and tabular data. For individual papers, see NCJ 85901-06.