The name Stockholm syndrome originated from the 1973 bank robbery incident in Stockholm, some of those bank employees were held hostage for six days, and during that time they became sympathetic to the robbers and to their motivations. When they were all freed and the robbers were brought to trial, some of the bank employees refused to testify against them, some of them went as far as raising money to pay for their defense. A criminologist who was working on the case at the time came up with the term Stockholm syndrome to describe the affinity that the bank employees showed towards the bank robbers. Stockholm syndrome is not a psychological condition, it is an emotional response to being abused or being held hostage, it describes a coping mechanism for victims. Those who are being abused or held captive develop a kind of psychological bond with their captors, often to the point where they come to sympathise with them.
