Topic > Stockholm Syndrome: Beauty and the Beast - 730

Stockholm Syndrome is a phenomenon in which "a hostage begins to bond with, identify with, or sympathize with his or her captor." Nils Bejerot first coined this term to describe the bond between captors and their hostages. When people hear the term Stockholm syndrome, they usually associate it with high-profile kidnapping and hostage cases. Although many people use Beauty and the Beast to explain what it means, Beauty and the Beast is actually not an accurate example. Unlike many Stockholm Syndrome hostages, Belle was a willing prisoner. She chose to be the Beast's prisoner in exchange for her father's freedom, and when he falls in love with her, he effectively gives her the choice to leave, which the kidnappers do not. Because of this, both characters come to depend on their captors and feel guilty every time they think about escaping. Since the discovery of Stockholm syndrome, there have been many cases that meet the criteria, but some people do not believe it is a real disorder. This is mainly due to the fact that Stockholm syndrome is rarely studied and is not even in the bible of psychology, the DSM V. Some argue that victims do not identify or bond with their captors, but that they are mostly too terrified to leave. Many victims of Stockholm syndrome are usually women. The first time Stockholm syndrome was discovered was in 1974 in Norrmalmstorg, Stockholm, Sweden. A man took four hostages during a bank robbery in Norrmalmstorg and ended up forming an emotional relationship with the hostages during the six-day ordeal. For this reason, the hostages refused to leave the captor's side. How did he manage to do it? Shirley interviewed 18 women and 3 men aged between 26 and 52. She found that victims of abuse by family members often did not report the abuse due to emotional attachment. Shirley's study aimed to inform policymakers on how to help victims and asked survivors 5 questions about their experiences with child sexual abuse, its impact on their lives, recovery and what changes they would make to the criminal justice system . Shirley transcribed the responses and found that the victims had difficulty justifying their responses. It also concluded that family members or close friends often influenced the victim's decision to report the abuse, either out of loyalty to the abuser or lack of knowledge of the abuse..