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The role of the psychologist in crisis/hostage negotiations
Author(s) -
Hatcher Chris,
Mohandie Kris,
Turner Jim,
Gelles Michael G.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
behavioral sciences and the law
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.649
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1099-0798
pISSN - 0735-3936
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-0798(199823)16:4<455::aid-bsl321>3.0.co;2-g
Subject(s) - negotiation , surrender , politics , criminology , variety (cybernetics) , psychology , field (mathematics) , poison control , political science , social psychology , law , public relations , sociology , medicine , medical emergency , computer science , mathematics , artificial intelligence , pure mathematics
Over the past three decades, there has been a noted increase in hostage and barricade incidents involving perpetrators with a variety of emotional, economic, and political motives. A hostage incident may be defined as an incident in which (a) perpetrator(s) hold(s) one or more persons against their will in a location known to police. A barricade incident, on the other hand, is an incident without hostages in which a perpetrator is barricaded, also in a location known to police and refusing to surrender. Approximately 25 years ago, a theory of crisis/hostage negotiations was developed which has been continuously refined in field applications. This article will define the goal of crisis/hostage negotiation, review the history of hostage taking from biblical times to the present, review the utilization of psychologists and other mental health consultants by police crisis/hostage negotiation teams, and discuss the four roles and related functions of psychologists on crisis/hostage negotiation teams. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.