Can much of the change in Patty Hearsts behavior be attributed to Stockholm Syndrome?
Absolutely. That was the initial window that allowed her to be indoctrinated into their ideology. I think, really, the way to understand what happened to her is to really understand the SLA as a cult. It was really more of a cult than it was a political organization. The behavior of all of them became increasingly cult-like, to the point where, in some of the later tape recordings that they sent to the media, they were referring to their leader as the fifth prophet. It became very weird, but I think that’s the best way to understand the psychology behind it. What do you think the place of the SLA in history would be without the February 4, 1974, kidnapping? Nothing. So they would otherwise merely be a footnote? The reason the SLA are interesting is because they got such attention. They didn’t really accomplish much, but it got attention. That’s what terrorism is. Terrorism isn’t planting a bomb anonymously in somebody’s back yard and taking credit for it. Terrorism is getting mass medi
