ABSTRACT
This case illustrates the importance of the negotiator understanding hostage behavior, hostage emotional states, psychological reactions to being held captive, and other aspects of hostage behavior. The most critical reason for knowing this information is to know how to deal with hostage issues and keep them alive and from becoming harmed. Recognizing the potential benefi ts and liabilities posed by hostages and ways of managing them are necessary tools in the negotiator’s tool box. Being able to deal with hostages upon completion of the incident is also critical. Negotiators should conduct an emotional debriefi ng with released hostages and reduce the potential for long-term effects of captivity. This chapter will look at the defi nitions of hostages and victims of a crisis incident, outline the kinds of people who become hostages/victims, examine what happens when people are taken hostage, explore how people adapt to and cope with being held hostage, defi ne what Survivors and Succumbers are, and explain what happens to people when they are released from captivity. Guidelines for debriefi ng released hostages will be presented and discussed.
