Interesting question. where do you stand on the issue.

More about Stockholm Syndrome

Stockholm syndrome, or capture–bonding, is a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy andsympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them. These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abusefrom their captors for an act of kindness.^[1][2] The FBI‘s Hostage Barricade Database System shows that roughly 27% of victims show evidence of Stockholm syndrome.^[3]

Stockholm syndrome can be seen as a form of traumatic bonding, which does not necessarily require a hostage scenario, but which describes “strong emotional ties that develop between two persons where one person intermittently harasses, beats, threatens, abuses, or intimidates the other.”^[4] One commonly used hypothesis to explain the effect of Stockholm syndrome is based on Freudian theory. It suggests that the bonding is the individual’s response to trauma in becoming a victim. Identifying with the aggressor is one way that the ego defends itself. When a victim believes the same values as the aggressor, they no longer become a threat.^[5]

Battered-person syndrome is an example of activating the capture–bonding psychological mechanism, as are military basic training and fraternity bonding by hazing.^[6][7][8]

Stockholm syndrome is sometimes erroneously referred to as Helsinki syndrome.^[9][10]

History

Stockholm syndrome is named after the Norrmalmstorg robbery of Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg in Stockholm, Sweden, in which several bank employees were held hostage in a bank vault from August 23 to August 28, 1973. During this situation, the victims became emotionally attached to their captors, rejected assistance from government officials at one point and even defended them after they were freed from their six-day ordeal.^[11] The term “Stockholm syndrome” was coined by the criminologist andpsychiatrist Nils Bejerot, who assisted the police during the robbery and referred to the syndrome in a news broadcast.^[12] It was originally defined by psychiatrist Frank Ochberg to aid the management of hostage situations.^[13]

Read more from the source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome