ABSTRACT
The value democracies place on human life has left crisis negotiators open to victimization by those who do not share, but seek to exploit, their belief and democratic system. American law enforcement, airlines, and banks have learned that those who have been trained to cope with the trauma of a crisis or a hostage situation survive with fewer resulting problems and provide better information to investigators than their untrained peers. A problem encountered when instructing people for hostage survival is the ambiguous nature of many major variables. The study of individual differences in anxiety level as a response to various stress situations has received considerable attention in recent years. The best adjusted prisoner of wars and civilian hostages survive by keeping busy and productive in non-threatening activities. The role of hostage is similar to the role of child in a family, a recruit in a training company, or a recently hired employee.
