Hostage Negotiations Essay

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Crisis Negotiations

There are numerous stages in a crisis scenarios. Crises can be seen as happening in stages that have different characteristics and require different skills to manage" (McMains & Mullins, 2010, p.25). These stages are: pre-crisis, crisis/defusing, adaptation/negotiation, and resolution/surrender (McMains & Mullins, 2010, p.25). Pre-crisis does not refer to a specific event, but to an organization prior to a crisis. It is characterized by practice, planning, and prevention by the negotiators and their support teams (McMains & Mullins, 2010, p.25). The crisis/defusing stage involves the recognition that there is a crisis and the negotiators attempts to deescalate the situation into one where there can be negotiation. It is during this time period that negotiators often assess whether a crisis is negotiable. They also assess the nature of the crisis: it is not considered a hostage scenario unless human life is at stake, even if the taker is threatening inanimate objects or non-human living creatures. They use the following techniques during the crisis/defusing stage: reassurance, active listening, emotional labeling, paraphrasing, reflection of feelings, effective pauses, and mimicking (McMains & Mullins, 2010, p.25).
All of these tools are aimed at establishing a relationship between the negotiator and the taker. This facilitates the growth of the next stage, which is the adaptation/negotiation stage. In many ways, the negotiator is working as a facilitator for the hostage taker, helping the hostage taker realize that he or she has alternatives to the scenario that they have established. Negotiators use: open ended questions, problem-oriented questions, persuasion and influence techniques, and I-messages in this phase to help transition to problem solving (McMains & Mullins, 2010, p.25). The final stage is the resolution/surrender phase, which is ideally characterized by the release of any hostages and the peaceful surrender of the taker. The goal of this stage is a peaceful resolution and managing increasing tensions. Negotiators use guided imagery and stress management techniques to help maintain emotional stability during this phase of a crisis (McMains & Mullins, 2010, p.25).

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