A hostage is someone who is kidnapped as collateral so that a third party meets certain demands.
A hostage is an individual who is kidnapped by another subject as collateral to demand that a third party satisfy his or her demands. The kidnapper, in this way, can exert pressure , even threatening to kill the hostage if they do not comply with his requests.
The term comes from the Arabic ráhn , which, in turn, emanates from rihan , translatable as "garment" . The hostage is someone who is illegally deprived of his liberty : this means that the hostage is not in the same situation as a prisoner or prisoner , whose deprivation of liberty is supported by law and justified as punishment for a crime. crime committed.
Release of a hostage
When a person is taken hostage, they are at the mercy of their captor. The kidnapper may subject her to mistreatment and torture until another subject or entity complies with her requests. The release of the hostage will be at the discretion of the kidnapper or will depend on the success of the plan implemented by the security forces .
Within the police field, there is the figure of the negotiator . This is a police officer who is trained and qualified to be the intermediary with the kidnapper. Their objective is to ensure that the hostages are released, that no one is injured and that the criminal can be captured.
The kidnapper uses the hostage to exert pressure.
The role of the negotiator
To achieve these goals, the negotiator will develop different negotiation techniques based on the characteristics of each kidnapping and the personality of the criminal. However, it is considered that said professional must follow five fundamental steps during his work and dialogue:
- You must make it clear to the kidnapper that you are listening to him.
- You have to show empathy to let them know that you understand them and that you recognize what they are feeling.
- You need to establish certain bonds of trust.
- It requires exerting influence to get the criminal to carry out their advice and thus favor the release of the hostages.
- Finally, you must be able to promote a change in the kidnapper's behavior.
Example of hostage taking
Suppose a man goes in to rob a bank . When he is at the premises, the police arrive. The criminal, in this way, decides to take the five employees and the ten clients who were in the building hostage : he prevents them from leaving until the police provide him with a vehicle for his escape.
A negotiation then begins between the security force (who will try to persuade the criminal to release the hostages) and the thief (who will try to force the police to comply with his claim by keeping the workers and clients captive).
Generally, when security forces consider that a hostage's life is in danger , they act violently and can even kill the kidnapper, although negotiation and peaceful resolution of the conflict are always prioritized.
Stockholm syndrome
It is important to establish that the hostage, the victim of the kidnapper, can develop what is known as Stockholm syndrome. This is a psychological reaction that leads the individual who is being held to develop an emotional bond with the offender, who may even come to understand and understand why he acts that way.
As a general rule, when this syndrome appears it is as a result of the kidnapper not behaving violently towards the victim and the victim comes to believe that this is an act of humanity on his part.