In 1973, Sweden was gripped by a sensational heist that saw four bank workers taken hostage by a criminal named Jan-Erik Olsson and an accomplice. Over the course of the six-day standoff between Olsson and the police, one of the captives—Kristin Enmark—developed a rapport with the jailers and displayed fear of the Swedish authorities attempting to free her. Following Enmark’s release, this reaction was pathologized by the psychiatrist who led the police’s efforts, and the term “Stockholm syndrome” was born. In the years since, Stockholm syndrome has been expanded to describe any psychological condition in which a victim of abuse forms an emotional attachment to their abuser. It has been immortalized in film, from the abducted heroine who falls in love with her captor in Buffalo ’66, to an adaptation of 3, 096 Days, a memoir written by an Austrian schoolgirl who spent eight years imprisoned in a cellar—and wept when she learned that her tormentor had died. Media This story is from Kinfolk Issue Thirty-Seven Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 45 Correction: Spontaneous Generation A curious theory about the origins of life. Arts & Culture Issue 44 Correction Wikipedia is good, actually. Arts & Culture Issue 40 Correction On the scary shortcomings of “fearless” philosophies. Arts & Culture Issue 39 Correction Teenagers aren't lazy, they're exhausted. Arts & Culture Issue 38 Correction Don’t be fooled by spurious data. Arts & Culture Issue 35 Correction Why catchy health guidelines require careful examination.
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