We Have a Hostage Situation
August 2011
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It’s a scene guaranteed to set hearts racing, hands trembling, and blood pressure soaring—a worst-nightmare-come-true setting that has already lasted several hours too many. In one small room, a handful of terrorized individuals, held at gunpoint by an abductor making impossible demands in exchange for their release. In other areas, negotiators, who communicate with the offender via a crackling “throw phone,” and a command center staffed by FBI agents and a SWAT team specially trained to deal with high-risk crisis incidents.
It’s real-world learning at its best: a two-credit class called Hostage Negotiations, offered as a capstone to students in The Chicago School’s Forensic Psychology program. The course teaches skills and communication techniques needed to de-escalate critical situations, as well as an understanding perpetrators’ psychological profiles and the ability to manage stress. Dr. Nancy Zarse (Psy.D. ’89), associate professor, developed the program based on training she received through the Bureau of Prisons. It is the only known program of its kind offered by an educational institution.
Explore the different stages of hostage negotiations by clicking the image below and selecting “Next” to scroll through the entire gallery.
Student Martinette Zeeman negotiates with the hostage taker. Her goals are to use active listening skills to calm the perpetrator, while also gathering information and assessing his psychological state. What she learns will determine the team’s approach.
Lisa Britton, Travis Ickes, and Nydia Gonzalez work as a team to organize information they have gathered and develop strategies for negotiating the safe release of the hostages.
Kristin Collins fills the role as primary negotiator while Roman Grubbs coaches her. The use of a “throw phone” (thrown in to the hostage taker as a means of communication) allows the coach to hear the conversation and make suggestions to facilitate the negotiations.
The tactical team leader, an FBI agent on the SWAT team, reviews the intelligence gathered to date, and seeks additional information necessary to form command decisions. The involvement of law enforcement professionals adds a realistic flavor to the role play.
Students successfully negotiate the surrender of the hostage taker, who is arrested upon release. Andrew Austin (M.A. ‘10), in handcuffs, is a graduate of the hostage negotiation course and the Forensic Psychology master’s program. Currently in the U.S. Army’s Officer Candidate School, Andrew returned as a volunteer for the role play.
The debriefing session and afteraction review is a critical component in the day’s role play. What went right? What went wrong? Now in its fifth year, the training model has evolved over the years. “I learned after one of these role plays that students needed to talk about what they were feeling,” Dr. Zarse says. “I have now incorporated a longer after-action session that allows time for that.”
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