Stockholm syndrome
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in an abducted hostage, in which the hostage shows signs of loyalty to the hostage-taker, regardless of the danger (or at least risk) in which the hostage has been placed. Stockholm syndrome is also sometimes discussed in reference to other situations with similar tensions, such as battered person syndrome, rape cases, parental alienation syndrome, and bride kidnapping. The syndrome is named after the Norrmalmstorg robbery at Stockholm, Sweden, in which the bank robbers held bank employees hostage from August 23 to August 28 in 1973. In this case, the victims became emotionally attached to their victimizers, and even defended their captors after they were freed from their six-day ordeal. The term Stockholm Syndrome was coined by the criminologist and psychiatrist Nils Bejerot, who assisted the police during the robbery, and referred to the syndrome in a news broadcast.
In fiction
Belle (from Beauty and the Beast) is an example of somebody who suffers Stockholm Syndrome.
More fiction in which the kidnapee develops an attraction to the kidnapper:
