What is the Stockholm Syndrome?

The former Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg, Stockholm. Source: Wikipedia.com

Stockholm syndrome is a psychological condition in which hostages sympathise with their captors, and this term was coined in 1973 to describe the puzzling reactions of four Swedish bankemployees to Jan Erik Olsson, their captor.

Olsson was on leave from prison, walked into Kreditbanken situated at Norrmalmstorg in central Stockholm, and attempted to hold up the bank. The bank robber held four bank employees hostage for five long days, from August 23 to August 28 in 1973.

As soon as the police tried to enter the building, Olsson fired his submachine gun and a police officer was shot the first day of the robbery. Olsson also threatened to kill the hostages if any gas attack was attempted, but on August 28 the gas was used anyway and after half an hour Olsson surrendered. The hostage did not get any physical injuries.

Who coined the term ‘Stockholm Syndrome’?

The term ‘Stockholm syndrome’ was coined by the psychiatrist Nils Bejerot (1921-1988), who assisted the police during the robbery and later referred to the syndrome in media. Bejerot worked for many years as consulting psychiatrist to the Stockholm Police Department and consulting physician to the Stockholm Remand Prison.

So the Stockholm syndrome comes into play when a captive cannot escape and is threatened, but is shown token acts of kindness by the captor. One of the more celebrated cases of Stockholm syndrome was that of Patty Hearst, the American newspaper heiress who, having been a hostage in the mid-Seventies, joined the group in a bank robbery.