A form of bonding in which a kidnapping or terrorist hostage identifies with and has sympathy for his or her captors on whom he or she is dependent for survival. Not uncommonly seen in terrorist-hostage situations.
The emotional involvement between a hostage and the person holding him or her captive. The hostage’s action may be due to sympathy for the terrorist’s cause, to stress, or to the need to cooperate in order to survive. This syndrome is named after the romantic involvement of a terrorist and a bank employee held hostage during a 1973 bank robbery in Stockholm.