Ultimately, most people recognized Hearst underwent intense brainwashing, and her prison sentence was eventually reduced. In fact, "she later had her sentence commuted by President Carter, after psychiatrists determined that she had developed a pseudo-identity as a survival strategy" (Card 214). Thus, the Stockholm Syndrome played a huge part in her support of her SLA captors and her eventual pardon. The Stockholm Syndrome makes absolute sense in that hostages are at the will of their captors, and to live, they must quickly adapt. An expert said of Heart's situation, "If the pressure is strong enough, people exposed to new environments and beliefs can actually change their entire perspective" (Ramsland 5). While some people do not believe the syndrome exists, it simply makes sense from many perspectives that it does. According to Aristotle's definition of free will, some people will sometimes do what they desire because they want to, rather than doing what is "right" or they are supposed to do. In this, Hearst and other captives could be seen as acting of their own free will...
Thus, their reality and need to survive was far different that an outsider's perception of that reality. Only they knew what they experienced at the hands of their captors, and only they could make the decisions they felt would keep them alive at the time. The Stockholm Syndrome has been observed many times, and it makes sense that a captive would use any means available to ensure their eventual release. While some may feel the Stockholm Syndrome does not exist, most evidence indicates it does, and that it is the only way some hostages have managed to survive their capture.
Stockholm Syndrome "Men, when they receive good from whence they expect evil, feel the more indebted to their benefactor." ~ Niccolo Machiavelli Stockholm syndrome is a psychological condition in which those who are held captive learn to sympathize with their captors. Instead of trying to escape the conditions that they are in, they become a part of the twisted psychology of those in control (Kocsis 266). It was named for the first
Ethical Issues With the Insanity Defense Ethical Issues w / Insanity Defense The insanity defense may seem to have a distinct and real place in the legal world. However, defining who is insane, who is not insane, what the definition of insanity is, whether insanity is temporary or permanent, who should be liable and when and so forth are all burning questions that are extremely hard to answer in a scientific, dispassionate
It is suggested that Mayella was beaten by her father. Despite this Mayella insists that Tom is responsible and he is convicted of the crime. Discussion The Ewell family lives on relief checks, which Bob "drank up anyway," and the home has no running water. The younger children are perpetually sick and dirty. They made their shoes out of strips of old tires salvaged from the dump. She does not stay
Human Trafficking: A Growing Threat for All Undocumented Migrant Workers. Human trafficking, despite the growing global awareness, has generated an international response that is fractured and disjointed. The issue of human trafficking in the current global world is a very tragic reality. . Despite a growing global awareness of this issue there still appears to be a fractured and disjointed international response regarding how to effectively deal with the problem. Although
AbstractAlthough the social justice issue of child sexual trafficking is widely regarded by the American public as a problem that is faced by other nations, particularly impoverished developing countries, the harsh reality is that child sex trafficking routinely occurs in the United States as well. While exact numbers about its prevalence in the United States are unavailable, it is known that sex trafficking, including men, women and children, occurs in
Yet, in this case, the freedom that the author is talking about is not necessarily the liberation of women from the oppressive male society, but the freedom of each individual with mental problems to having a socially integrated life, with little or no confinement that would also make the mental problems develop. In conclusion, although it may seem that "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story written with a feminist
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