Appeasement: Replacing Stockholm syndrome as a definition of a survival strategy
Date
2023
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
European Journal of Psychotraumatology
Abstract
Background: Stockholm syndrome or traumatic bonding (Painter & Dutton, Patterns of
emotional bonding in battered women: Traumatic bonding. International Journal of Women’s
Studies, 8(4), 363–375, 1985) has been used in mainstream culture, legal, and some clinical
settings to describe a hypothetical phenomenon of trauma survivors developing powerful
emotional attachments to their abuser. It has frequently been used to explain the reported
‘positive bond’ between some kidnap victims and their captor’s, although scarce empirical
research has supported this assertion. It has been used in various situations where
interpersonal violence and mind control are reported and where clear power differentials
exist, such as in child sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, human trafficking, and
hostage situation scenarios.
Objective: We propose replacing Stockholm syndrome with ‘appeasement,’ a term that can be
explained through a biopsychological model (i.e. Polyvagal Theory) to describe how survivors
may appear emotionally connected with their perpetrators to effectively adapt to lifethreatening situations by calming the perpetrator.
Conclusion: We believe the term appeasement will demystify the reported survivor
experiences and will, in the eyes of the public, victims, and survivors, provide a sciencebased explanation for their narratives of survival that may initially appear to be
contradictory. By understanding the potent reflexive neurobiological survival mechanisms
embedded in appeasement, individuals and families can operationalise their survival from a
perspective that supports resilience, a healthy long-term recovery, and normalises their
coping responses as survival techniques.
Description
item.page.type
Article
item.page.format
Keywords
resilience, polyvagal theory, Stockholm syndrome, appeasement, child abuse
Citation
Bailey, R., Dugard, J., Smith, S. F., & Porges, S. W. (2023). Appeasement: replacing Stockholm syndrome as a definition of a survival strategy. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 14(1), 2161038.