Hostage Negotiation A hostage situation is a law-enforcement worst-case scenario, because it places innocent civilians directly in harm's way. Armed intervention becomes very risky, since the hostages themselves can be harmed either by stray bullets or by the hostage-takers. That makes the negotiation the most important aspect of any hostage crisis. A skilled negotiator must find out what the hostage-taker wants, who he or she' is and what it will take to achieve a peaceful outcome, all while ensuring the safety of the hostages and other bystanders. Ideally, a hostage situation ends with everyone walking away. In this article, we'll find out what happens on the scene of a hostage negotiation,how a negotiator gets the job done. We will also take a look at the psychology of hostage-takers. The Hostage Situation Although hostage situations can vary greatly based on the motivations of the hostage-taker and the exact circumstances surrounding the incident, there are some basic facts that apply to all hostage situations. The hostage-taker wants to obtain something. This can be as simple as money, personal safety or sale passage to another country, or it can involve complicated political goals. The target of the hostage-taker is not the hostage it is some third party (a person, a company or a government) that can provide whatever it is the hostage-taker' wants. The hostages are bargaining chips. They may have symbolic value (as at the 1972 Munich Olympics, in which the target was the Israeli government and the hostages were Israeli athletes), but the hostages themselves could be anyone. Hostage situations move through several distinct phases. Initial Phase—This phase is violent and brief and lasts as long as it takes for the hostage-takers to make their assault and subdue(慑服) the hostages. The end of this phase is often marked by the presentation of the hostage takers' demands. Negotiation Phase—At this point, law-enforcement officials are on the scene, and the demands have probably been received. This phase can last hours, days or months and could also be referred to as 'the standoff(均衡) phase. 'Physically, nothing about the situation changes greatly. The hostages and the hostage-takers stay in the same place. However, a lot is happening during this phase in terms of the relationships developing between everyone involved. The negotiator's job boils down to manipulating those relationships in a way that results in a peaceful ending. Termination Phase—This is the brief, sometimes violent final phase. This phase has one of throe results: The hostage-takers surrender peacefully and are arrested. Police assault the hostage-takers and kill or arrest them. The hostage-takers' demands are granted, and they escape. The fate of the hostages does not necessarily depend on what happens during the termination phase. Even if the hostage-takers give up, they may have killed the hostages during the negotiations. Often, hostages are killed either accidentally by police or intentionally by their captors during an assault. There have even been cases in which the hostage-takers were granted their demands, but they killed a hostage anyway. There is also a post-incident stage in which the effects of the incident play themselves out. These effects can include changes in the status of the groups responsible, shifts in the relationships between world governments or in creases in security. Hostage-takers One of the first things a negotiator does when he or she arrives on the scene of a hostage crisis is to find out everything about the hostage-taker. The most basic question is: Why did this person take a hostage? There are a few common reasons. The hostage-taker might be emotionally or mentally disturbed. His or her specific reason fo