11 Famous And Horrifying Cases Of Stockholm Syndrome And Hostage Brainwashing (2023)

Photo: Unknown /Wikimedia Commons/public domain

Perhaps the most famous case ofStockholm syndrome— in which people who are kidnapped or held hostage develop feelings of trust and affection for their captors — is certainly the case with Patty Hearst. Patty, the granddaughter of former newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, was kidnapped by radicals in 1974.symbiotereleaseArmy.

Hearst stayed with the SLA for over a year, and after being isolated and tortured by the group, she has grown to an astonishing degree.sympathy for you. Nineteen months after her arrest, it was discovered that she had joined the left-wing terrorist group and was involved in robberies, propaganda advertisements and other illegal activities.

Eventually, she was caught by the FBI and charged as her captors. At the time of her arrest, Hearst weighed only 87 pounds and was being treated by Dr. Margaret Singer as "Low IQ, low impact zombie. He underwent an IQ test which revealed that his IQ had dropped by 18 points during the 19 months of his captivity.Dr. Louis Jolyon Oeste, a brainwashing theorist, claimed after a 15-hour interview with Hearst that she was a "classic case" of brainwashing. Despite this, she was convicted of her crimes in 1975 and sentenced to 35 years in prison, only to be pardoned by President Jimmy Carter in 1979.

• To change:68
• Place of birth:United States, California, San Francisco
• Credits:Cry-Baby, Bio-Dome, Serial Mom, Cecil B. Demente, Pecker

Photo:COMMUNICATES/Flickr/CC-BY 2.0

smart isabella

The tragic story of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart captured America's fears and compassion after she was taken from her Salt Lake City home one night and found just nine months later as her captor Brian Mitchell was driving her across the country. she tortured and violated.

While Mitchell may not have made any intentional effort to brainwash Smart, the level ofTorture and abandonment to which she was subjectedit certainly had an impact. After his rescue and during his testimony, he claimed that he had opportunities to escape during his captivity, but chose not to take advantage of them.

at a point,"Smart was questioned by a police officer who received a tip that she had been located, but chose not to call for help or attempt to flee." When she was later asked about the incident in interviews, she said:

I was in mortal danger, I was in mortal danger for my family. And those two threats are stronger than the chains for me. It's wrong to judge someone in any situation and say, "Well, why didn't you try to run away? Why didn't you yell? Why didn't you try to do something?" This is so wrong and downright offensive to even ask this question.

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• Place of birth:Salt Lake City, Utah, EUA

Photo: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation /Wikimedia Commons/public domain

Charles Manson, a man accused of tearing down the idealism and hope of the 1960s, stands out on this list for not kidnapping people. He also didn't brainwash his followers into committing suicide, instead convincing them to murder others in what became known as the Manson Family murders.

After two prison terms for misdemeanors, Manson began to gather a following, mostly women with troubled pasts. He exhorted his followers to surrender his ego, show self-sacrifice, and told them of the family's future living in an underground paradise and then rising again to take control of the nation. He tried to keep the sex ratio of his group at 5:1 so that the women could satisfy all the desires of the men.

Manson hammered his ideas into the minds of his followers, then cemented his control by dosing them with LSD and then preaching sermons to his drug-addicted audiences, preaching his racist, misogynistic, and ultimately murderous beliefs.

In the end, Manson successfully convinced his followers that the only way to bring about "Helter Skelter," the apocalyptic race war he believed would lead to world conquest, was to kill innocent people. The "family", as they were known, committed seven murders, including the murder of aspiring actress Sharon Tate (who was pregnant at the time). As a result, Manson was sentenced to death and then to life in prison after California abolished the death penalty.

• To change:88
• Place of birth:Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America
• Credits:Citizen Shane, Charles Manson Superstar, The Manson Family, Helter Skelter

Photo: Unknown /Wikipedia/fair use

Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped in 1991 at the age of 11 and was not released until 2009. Dugard's captor, Phillip Greg Garrido, filled Dugard's head with his own madness and told him about "demonic angels" that allowed him to lead to Dugard so she could. help him with his sexual problems that society condemns, namely child abuse and rape. He also made Dugard listen to the voices he himself heard speaking to him from within the walls of her home. Although Garrido was already married, many psychiatrists believe Jaycee viewed her relationship with her evil kidnapper as akin to marriage, in part because the couple had two children together.

Dugard was so controlled by Garrido that when the police arrived to investigate and arrest Garrido, they were met by Jaycee, who introduced herself using a false identity as "Alissa". Police said that while Dugard knew Garrido was a sex offender, he said he was a "changed man" and "a great person and good to his children."

If you press details,Dugard became "extremely defensive" and "excited", demanding to know why she was being "interrogated" and even lying to protect Garrido. She claimed to be an abused ex-wife who was hiding from her abusive husband at Garrido's house. Police officer Ally Jacobs noted that Dugard's two sons, aged 11 and 15, were also apparently brainwashed by Garrido as they looked at their father "like God", adding: "They had a strange look in their eyes." , asbrainwashed zombies.“

It was only after Garrido's arrest that Jaycee admitted, "I adapted to survive my circumstances."

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• Place of birth:Anaheim, California, United States of America

Kurdish teenagers kidnapped by ISIS

In 2014, 148 Kurdish children were kidnapped in Syria for five months by the terrorist group known as ISIS. While the Kurds and Sunnis are sworn enemies, the children have been brainwashed to such an extent that, even after their release, they still believe many of the teachings they received from their captors. Upon returning, a boy (who gave himself the pseudonym Jan) said:"I have to tell the truth. ISIS is right and everything they taught me is true." He then added: "I am convinced that they are right."

the boys werebrainwashingwith constant forced education about the ISIS belief system, along with brutal torture, including wives and ISIS members practicing "karate and kickboxing" on children. They were also forced to watch videos of the infamous ISIS massacre videos.

Jan explains that her liberal upbringing has prevented her from willingly joining ISIS now, but admits that she still holds to the beliefs she was taught. "Sometimes I get confused," she said. "But everything they said was proven with passages from the Qur'an."

colleen stan

In one case the FBI described asunmatched in its brutality, Colleen Stan was subjected to such an unfathomable level of physical and mental torture that a mental fracture was probably the only thing her body and mind could do to protect itself.

After Cameron Hooker kidnapped Stan in 1977, he kept her in a coffin-sized box under his bed for seven years. Hooker kept Stan in this box 23 hours a day for most of her captivity, forcing her into a sex slave. Hooker had so much control over Stan that she voluntarily "enlisted" into sexual slavery in 1978. She was called "K", which served as her slave name, and was only allowed to call Hooker "Master".

The root of Hooker's control over Stan was his invention of "The Company", which he was convinced Stan was an evil organization that was watching them and would torture and kill their family if they acted or attempted to act against their will. from Hooker to flee. .

Stan was so scared of taking action against Hooker that she didn't tell them the truth, even when he took her to visit her family;

He left her alone with her family, but she never said a word about her ordeal. She claimed that Cameron was her boyfriend and that she was happy. She stayed the night and posed for a photo with her attacker the next morning before going out with him again.

Eventually, Hooker's wife (who had been a willing accessory to Stan's kidnapping) became guilty and helped Stan escape.