WHITE PAPER

Today your colleague, tomorrow your captor

How well do you know the people in your department? Do you know, and understand, if they have personal problems?

By Dr Gerhard Schoeman, Industrial Psychologist.

Imagine the following scenario: “Early one morning, a man walks into his office building armed with a handgun, terrorists, and an emotional (feeling?) act for people who believe that they have been wronged in some sense. Hostage taking is a shotgun and enough ammunition to start his own small war. He has had enough, in his opinion, of being mistreated by his colleagues and supervisor and has decided to show them what he is capable of, which includes taking his whole department and his supervisor hostage.

“His emotional decline began two months prior when his wife left him and then the quality of his work started to deteriorate. His supervisor didn’t listen to his side of the story and threatened to fire him if he did not improve his performance. His colleagues called him a no-good crazy nut, and he felt increasingly that no one supported him. He submitted numerous requests for leave to sort out his life but they were turned down every time. When he was fired, nothing seemed to matter anymore by way of his reasoning.”

Most of us assume that being taken hostage will happen to other people but never to ourselves. There is, however, a tendency for some people to become violent when trying unsuccessfully to deal with their problems: just look at the increase in assault, road rage, murder, and even hostage-taking incidents of late. People seem to be taking the law into their own hands.

Taking people hostage is a serious crime, yet more and more people are turning to it as a means of trying to solve their problems due to their acute levels of frustration. Hostage taking is a political act for normally done in order to gain a specific end result. There are different types of hostage situations, too: a barricade situation, like in the above scenario, is where hostages are kept within a confined space.

There are also different kinds of hostage takers. Some plan a hostage taking well in advance, while others take hostages on the spur of the moment. The hostage taker in the scenario above is called a ‘wronged person’. The wronged person is motivated by a sense of grievance resulting from some experience with society. They feel that they were not treated fairly. The grievance may be due to a single event or a series of events. These captors may display violent rage if provoked. If the hostages or authorities do not listen to them they might become violent and even kill hostages.

Have you ever heard that after a bad incident, like the scenario above, people will normally say something like: “He was such a nice guy. Who would ever have thought that he would do something like this?” or “He was always a quiet and reserved person… I wouldn’t have seen him as the violent type.”

What could you do to prevent a scenario like the one mentioned or be prepared should something similar happen? With hostage taking, the old saying of prevention is better than cure, is a wise option so here is some advice:

• HR should ensure that all their processes are always in place, and these need to include providing assistance to people experiencing personal problems, financial problems or work-related problems.

• Make time to get to know your employees/colleagues better and really listen if they want to tell you something. This way, you will know when they’re struggling with something, whether in their personal or work environments.

• If an employee’s or colleague’s behaviour changes suddenly, try to find out why. Changes to note include withdrawing from other people, the quality of their work begins to deteriorate, they start coming late to work, etc. Aside from offering them your support or professional help if needed, HR/Management should have an Employee Assistance Programme in place too.

• Be emotionally prepared for dealing with a crisis situation. Anything could happen at any time, whether at work or home.

• If you ever feel that life is becoming too much for you to deal with, do not take the law into your own hands! Speak to somebody who may help you. It might be a close friend, the minister at your church, a doctor or anybody that you trust. Help is always available.

If you do find yourself in a hostage situation, you can do the following:

• Do not argue with the hostage taker, since this will only further provoke him or her.

• Listen to all their instructions and follow them.

• Do not try to be a hero.

• Do not tell the person what to do – it will be the last thing he or she would like to hear.

• Treat the captor with respect. Respect works both ways: if you respect them, they might start to respect you as a person.

• Display non-threatening behaviour.

Keep your hands clear and do not make any sudden movements.

• Have faith that you will survive and be rescued. As soon as you start losing your faith, you lose the battle.

Any type of violent crime may be very traumatic and may have an effect on your personal and work life. It is very important to go for debriefing or counselling after such an incident.