ABSTRACT
Kidnapping, or hostage-taking, is one of the most common and effective tactics employed by violent political groups such as terrorist groups and insurgents. However, there are huge variations in how much notable violent political groups use kidnapping in their attacking repertoire. Those that were avid in kidnapping activities also showed episodes of particularly high numbers of kidnappings committed in particular years. This chapter looks at this phenomenon and contemplates a tentative explanation for the variations in kidnapping across groups and over time – in other words, why violent political groups engage in kidnappings. Recognising that motivations of kidnapping go beyond the apparent ransom income and political concessions, this chapter argues that a possible explanation of why kidnappings happen could lie in its function as a coercion technique in extra-legal contexts for its perpetrators to assert power and social control.
