Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Hostage Negotiation:
Psychological Principles and Practices
ABSTRACT: Resolution of hostage crises may take hours or days of intensely focused and stressful
negotiation, requiring the use of virtually every crisis intervention strategy known to psychology and law
enforcement. This article describes the nature of hostage crises and the factors that contribute to prospects
for a successful resolution. Outlined are basic strategies of hostage negotiation and crisis management
culled from the psychological and law enforcement literature. Recommendations are offered to civilians
for surviving a hostage crisis. Finally, the article emphasizes the collaborative working relationship
between mental health and law enforcement professionals that can have a lifesaving impact for citizens in
peril. [International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, 2005, 7(4), pp. 277-298].
KEY WORDS: hostage negotiation, crisis intervention, police psychology, negotiation psychology,
emergency mental health
In the world of emergency mental health, there are few the world of popular drama. This article describes the nature
emergencies as critical as a hostage crisis. Lives are at immi- of real-life hostage crises and the factors that contribute to
nent risk of violent death, often at the hands of an unstable both greater risk and prospects for a successful resolution.
and desperate perpetrator, in the midst of a chaotic and un- It then outlines basic strategies of hostage negotiation and
controlled environment. Most hostage crises combine ele- crisis management culled from the psychological and law
ments of suicidal despair and homicidal rage, often enforcement literature. While no printed text can substitute
aggravated by a serious mental disorder and fueled by drugs for adequate training and experience, a solid foundation of
or alcohol. In other cases, hostages are at the mercy of a academic knowledge is a crucial first step in mastering any
cold-blooded criminal who has no qualms about killing his complex skill domain in psychology, law enforcement, or other
victims if he thinks that will get him what he wants. Resolu- area of professional expertise (Hedlund et al, 2003; Klein,
tion of hostage crises may take hours or days of incredibly 1998; Spaulding, 2005).
focused and intense negotiation, requiring the use of virtu-
This article has a dual audience both mental health and
ally every crisis intervention strategy in the psychology
law enforcement professionals because the author believes
and law enforcement repertoire of skills.
that a collaborative relationship between these two disci-
Along with homicide investigation and undercover op- plines is crucial in handling the complex duties of policing
erations, hostage negotiation has achieved iconic status in and criminal justice in modern society, including the life-and-
death responsibilities of crisis intervention. More broadly,
the psychological principles and practices of hostage nego-
Correspondence regarding this article should be directed to Laurence tiation may be productively applied to the resolution of inter-
Miller, PhD, Plaza Four, Suite 101, 399 W. Camino Gardens Blvd.
Boca Raton, Florida 33432. (561) 392-8881. docmilphd@aol.com
personal crises of almost every type, from school and
As always, if you are not sure what the HT just said or Like all active listening techniques, silence and pauses
meant, ask him to repeat it: I dont know if I got all that, are best used in combination with other techniques, and may
William. Could you say it again, please. I want to make sure be particularly effective when used in conjunction with mini-
I understand exactly what youre telling me. mal encouragers. Be careful about too much silence, how-
ever, because you dont want the HT to think hes being
Reflecting/Mirroring. Here, the negotiator repeats the
ignored or was forgotten about. Generally, subjects will indi-
last word or phrase, or the key word or phrase, of the subjects
cate this by are you still there? statements. Again, know
statement in the form of a question, thereby soliciting more
your subject as well as possible, and fine-tune your approach.
input without actually asking for it. It also allows the nego-
tiator to buy time if he cannot immediately think of an appro- I Messages. People under extreme stress often be-
priate emotional label or paraphrase, while still encouraging come suspicious and defensive, and any statements that are
the HT to think about what hes just said. Early in the nego- too directive may sound like an insult or attack. In such
tiation, it allows information to be gleaned in a circumstances, maybe you ought to... will be interpreted as
nonconfrontational way, and is a generally good initial rap- you better or else... To keep potentially accusatory-sound-
port-builder. ing yous out of the conversation, I-statements clue the
subject in on what effect hes having on the negotiators
HT: Im getting really pissed off at everyone trying to
perception, while at the same time allowing for some subjec-
screw me over.
tivity and personalization of the negotiator. The basic model
Negotiator: Youre pissed off? is I feel...when you...because...
HT: Yeah, my boss, my wife, my kids. They bug me and This technique may help defuse intense emotions, and
bug me, and wont get the hell off my back. may help refocus the HT during verbal attacks.
Negotiator: Theyre bugging you, huh? HT: You dont give a damn about me all you want is to
Minimal Encouragers. Minimal encouragers are noth- get these people out of here so you can blow me
ing more than the little conversational speech fillers we all away. Youre a goddam liar like the rest of them.
use to indicate that were paying attention to someone dur- Negotiator: When youre yelling at me like that, its hard
ing a conversation. In the hostage negotiation context, these for me to focus on what were talking about.
consist of short utterances and questions that let the HT
I-messages can also be used to deflect the HTs de-
know that the negotiator is listening, but dont interfere with
mands and manipuations, especially when used with para-
the HTs narrative flow. Indeed, the purpose is to encourage
phrasing and the dumb-but-trying (Detective Columbo)
the HT to keep talking. Examples include: Oh? I see.
approach.
Yeah. Uh-huh. When? And? Really? You do?
She did? HT: If you dont have that car here in 10 minutes, the
bodies start piling up, you got that?
Silence and Pauses. Aside from just buying time, si-
lence can be used strategically. For one thing, in a relatively Negotiator: Give me a second to get all this, okay, cause
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