Psychologists Warn of Emotional Fall-Out

As children began to emerge from the school where they had been held since Wednesday, one boy was repeatedly asked his name. As he looked around him in bewilderment, he seemed completely unable to answer even this simple question.

Hostage-takings and kidnappings are not uncommon in Russia, but the past decade has seen a growth in scale, with a corresponding increase in the severity of the psychological shock. The seizure of a school full of children crosses a frightening new threshold, terror experts say.

Finding appropriate support

Christian Lüdke, who works for Weisser Ring, an aid organization which helps victims of criminal violence, says it's crucial that the hostages receive support from someone close to them. Given that whole families were involved in the Beslan school siege, this will be potentially problematic for many of the victims. "It may prove hard to find appropriate support," Lüdke told dpa wire services.

"Children under the age of ten often develop feelings of guilt," he said, pointing out that they often look for an explanation and blame themselves. "It can have very negative repercussions on parent-child relationships."

Furthermore, "Having a child taken hostage is the worst thing that can happen to a parent," he said. They suffer feelings of helplessness and often fall into a state of shock. For as long as the situation remains acute, little can be done to help parents, beyond providing them with accurate and reliable information.

Innocence as a shield

In an interview with German public broadcaster ARD, police psychologist Adolf Gallwitz stresses that children experience this form of psychological assault more intensely than adults. They're also more likely to infect one another with panic and fear.

But although children are unable to gauge situations, their innocence can also function as a shield. "Children are unable to form a picture of what's happened in recent years and therefore base an expectation of the outcome on past events," he observes.

"Children are unaware they might be facing death."

He says it's crucial to act quickly and offer extensive counselling in the immediate aftermath of a hostage crisis.

"The children require an immediate de-briefing during which they can work through the events and avert long-term, post-traumatic effects," he emphasizes. "But one has to assume the survivors will be traumatized for a long time to come."