Stockholm syndrome facts for kids

Former Kreditbanken building in Stockholm, Sweden, the location of the 1973 Norrmalmstorg robbery (photographed in 2005)

Stockholm syndrome is something that sometimes happens to people who are victims of kidnapping. In Stockholm syndrome, the victim starts feeling loyalty toward the person who kidnapped him or her and even start to have feelings for the person. It got its name from a bank robbery in Norrmalmstorg in Stockholm, Sweden in 1973. There was a bank robbery where two thieves held four people as hostages. When the thieves were arrested six days later, the hostages hugged and kissed the men who had kept them under control for six days.

See also

In Spanish: Síndrome de Estocolmo para niños