Are we suffering from chronic Stockholm syndrome?

Madhav Hegde

Stockholm is the capital city of Sweden. This urban area has an estimated population of approximately 1.4 million (14 lakhs), and the Stockholm metropolitan area has a population of approximately 2.2 million (22 lakhs).

Sweden has a population of approximately 10 million (1 crore), and it is approximately 1900 km away from London. Chronic implies something that lasts for a long time. ‘Syndrome’ is traditionally understood as the clinical constellation of signs and symptoms of a disease.

The interesting story underlying Stockholm syndrome is as follows: Jan-Erik Olsson, a habitual bank robber on parole, kept four employees of a well-known bank in Stockholm for gains in 1973. He negotiated the release of his accomplice Clark Olofsson. The hostage drama ended with all six (two captors and four captives) escaping unhurt. Surprisingly, after their release, the hostages did not testify in court against the aggressor and instead started raising funds for his defence.

Fiction written on and films (Hollywood or Bollywood) produced on this theme have made 100 crores. However, this is troublesome issue if it happens for any individual in real life.

This syndrome might occur among school children (bullying is ubiquitous), women (domestic abuse), men (workplace) and elders. The alert section of the society needs to recognise this to enable victims respond in an appropriate way to overcome their oppressive situation. The problem is bigger if large section of the society, province, and country exhibit this strange behaviour.

Could this syndrome be the reason why people still glorify the ‘contribution’ of British rule towards the development of today’s India? Why do people respect the invaders of our nation, who have caused the present ‘identity’ crisis? We boastfully refer to the cleanliness and better infrastructure during our last ‘foreign’ travel, pitting it against our own conscience.

Empathising with the historical pain of our ancestors would help us to understand their contribution towards the existence of the nation after hundreds of years of tyranny. This might lead us to rediscover lost pride. Currently, the corporate world believes that behavioural competencies are the major determinants of success. It is time to extend the same and to impart a behavioural nudge to the entire country and to achieve multidimensional growth. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in this direction would set the tone. Innovation would place India in a pole position. Based on our concept of jugaad, we can be innovators too. I believe that this infusion and occasional bolus of pride would help us to achieve double-digit economic growth.

Olsson later said in an interview that ‘It was the hostages' fault; they did everything I told them to.’ Let us not give any chance to hear this from our aggressors of the past or bullies of today. Let us identify the correct behaviour based on the fitting societal value system instead of identifying with the aggressor.

My assumption is as follows: This contested syndrome exists in reality.