Lima syndrome is one of the strangest and most complex phenomena of the mind. In this syndrome, people who commit kidnapping develop feelings of sympathy and complicity towards the people they are holding against their will, becoming concerned about their well-being. This is one of the syndromes about which there is much left to investigate and know, but if you want to know more about this syndrome, continue reading our Psychology-Online article: Lima syndrome: what it is, symptoms, causes and treatment.
What is Lima syndrome
Lima syndrome refers to a psychological reaction on the part of the kidnapper, who develops sympathy and an emotional bond towards your victim. It is a paradoxical response in which the kidnapper empathizes with the victim and cares both about her needs and her well-being. This syndrome is basically Stockholm syndrome in reverse, since in the latter it is the victims who develop an emotional bond and complicity with their kidnappers. Sometimes Lima syndrome and Stockholm syndrome can occur at the same time, when the bond between the captor and the captive is mutual.
Lima syndrome: origin
Lima syndrome owes its name to an event that took place in the capital of Peru, Lima, in 1996. The group MRTA (Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement) took hundreds of people hostage in the Japanese embassy in the city of Lima. . Many of the captives were of great economic value, as they came from politics, the military and diplomacy, so it was expected that the MRTA group would ask for a large sum of money for their rescue. However, within a few days the kidnappers freed the people one by one, solely out of feelings of sympathy and as a result of the links generated towards them.
There is another version about the origin of this syndrome: a psychiatrist was kidnapped in Lima and, being knowledgeable about Stockholm syndrome, he applied his knowledge to the kidnapper to gain his compassion and sympathy.
Lima syndrome symptoms
There is currently little data and research about Lima syndrome. But, despite not being considered a disorder, a series of symptoms present in kidnappers that define Lima syndrome have been identified:
- They avoid causing harm to the victim.
- They generate feelings of empathy and compassion towards his victim.
- They make different gestures of kindness towards the person they are holding against their will.
- They develop concern about the victim’s physical and emotional well-being.
- It grants some freedoms to the victim, sometimes even releasing them.
- The person who carries out the kidnapping seeks and encourages conversation about various topics as a way of getting closer.
- Sometimes the kidnapper can share different personal data and experiences with the victim, in a process of opening up to her.
- He may promise the victim that he will not harm him or that he will even protect him, since the kidnapper may develop the idea that he is a protective figure for the victim.
- In Lima syndrome, the kidnapper generates an illusion by which he perceives himself as caretaker and protector of the captive person.
- The kidnapper spends a great deal of effort on improving the victim’s conditions while the kidnapping takes place.
- In Lima syndrome the kidnapper can reach feel really attracted to your victim.
Causes of Lima syndrome
In the previous sections we have seen what Lima syndrome is and how it manifests. but Why does Lima syndrome occur? Lima syndrome is due to an interaction between the internal characteristics of the kidnapping person and the environmental conditions of the kidnapping. Among the possible causes or explanations for this psychological response, the following have been identified:
- In the event that the person is part of a gang or group that commits the kidnapping, this person can disagree with carrying out a kidnapping and being part of it, and having given in because of group pressure and group membership. You may also disagree with the form or method in which it is being carried out.
- It is possible that the kidnapper acts due to a situation of extreme need such as a very serious economic situation.
- The aggressor may have premeditated does not want to harm the victimsthese are simply a means to achieve something, they are an instrument to achieve an end.
- The kidnapper is likely to end up developing feelings of guilt and questioning his own actions. By way of redemption he can worry about the well-being of the victim.
- The person who carries out the kidnapping may believe that they will not get out of it alive or may believe that they are not capable of holding the victim for much longer, so they decide to release them.
- The kidnapper may not have previously committed any other criminal act and has a great empathic capacity.
- The person may kidnap his victim because of previous feelings of infatuation or attraction. That is why, once in captivity, he takes care of her well-being, since the kidnapper harbors feelings towards his victim and seeks to seduce her and please her.
Lima syndrome: treatment
Currently there is no established psychological intervention for Lima syndrome, because it is not considered a disorder in itself, and there is a lack of research about it. However, some of the keys necessary for treatment are:
- It is necessary comprehensively evaluate and individual the motives and causes underlying the kidnapping action, since these can be very varied and depending on these the profile of the kidnapper is different.
- People with criminal behavior usually have some mental disorder, such as, or abuse of alcohol and/or other substances. It will be necessary to evaluate each case individually to specifically address the problems of people with Lima syndrome and design a treatment adapted to the needs to achieve effectiveness.
- Think about the long-term consequences for the person who is the victim of the kidnapping, even though the person has treated him or her correctly, and to gain an understanding about the victim’s experience. Empathy should be encouraged, as the person can believe that he has not acted in a harmful way, since he has acted kindly to his victim. It is important that there is a change in the point of view from the kidnapped person’s own; encourage them to understand that the other person who was deprived of their liberty and felt fear and anguish due to the uncertainty of the kidnapping situation.
- It is important that the kidnapper generates a reflection on his actions and the consequences thereof, coming to accept their responsibility for them.
- Apply cognitive restructuring techniques, techniques whose objective is the modification of subjective interpretation and assessment. Through which the person who has perpetrated the kidnapping is encouraged to be aware of reality and stop perceiving himself only as a caregiver and protector, but rather to accept and assume that he has participated in a kidnapping. In this way, the person is sought to create an image of themselves that fits reality.
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Bibliography
- Camelo, R., & Vargas, N. (2002). The kidnapper-kidnapper link. A look from the kidnapper. Degree work. Department of Psychology, National University of Colombia.
- Cely, LAR, & Gómez, LV (2002). Interaction strategies that the kidnapper generates with the victim during captivity. Psychological Universities1(1), 52-66.
- Garrido Genovés, V. (2012). Criminal profiles. Ariel.