$\"Thomas$ <\/a>

Book Review: An evaluation of Thomas Strenz\u2019s hostage negotiation methodology in \u201cPsychological Aspects of Crisis Negotiation\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

What hits you first is the organization of the material.\u00a0 When I read Psychological Aspects of Crisis Negotiation<\/span><\/b> by Thomas Strenz (Taylor and Francis Publishers, Boca Raton, Fla. 2006), I didn\u2019t expect to see what I saw.\u00a0 I guess I expected another rehashing of hostage negotiation materials, but what I got was the structure of a thought process that really could be very useful to anyone in operational psychology.\u00a0 In fact, it was organized more like a manual, than a book of descriptions of hostage situations and outcomes.\u00a0 For that reason, this is a book you may want to look to adding to y<\/i>our library.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thomas Strenz has taught hostage negotiations at the FBI academy, and work with the FBI gov.\u00a0 He was introduced to the Society by Wayman Mullins (quite a name himself in this field) and just fascinated the group with his hostage negotiations mini-seminar.\u00a0 Reading his book is a little like his seminar, except to see the material in a manual format makes it come more alive and gives the reader confidence that they know where to go for answers if ever they find themselves negotiating for the lives of others.\u00a0 What Strenz did was simple, but sometimes simplicity alludes writers of material in this field.\u00a0 He organized material to make it useful even at the scene of a hostage situation.\u00a0 He also places a great value on the mental health professional in a hostage situation, as the mental health professional helps determine what you are dealing with and how to proceed.\u00a0\u00a0 Okay, this is not new, but remember this book is not written by a police psychologist, or anyone else in the mental health field; it is written by a negotiator.<\/span><\/p>\n

The book is divided into five parts.\u00a0 In the first part he talks about some basic issues in the hostage negotiation field and the formation of a negotiations team.\u00a0 The subject in part two is the hostage taker.\u00a0\u00a0 What are the guidelines for dealing with each type of hostage taker and what kinds of things do you say to them.\u00a0 In section three, the reader learns how to deal with the indicators of resolution.\u00a0 When does a negotiator know surrender is imminent and when does the negotiator know it is about to go volatile.\u00a0 In part four, Strenz deals with group dynamics, the when\u2019s and how\u2019s of deviation from hostage negotiation guidelines.\u00a0 Part five deals with issues of the hostage like the Stockholm syndrome, what to say to a hostage and hostage stress.\u00a0 In all, it is a pretty thorough book for under three hundred pages.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, the real gem of the book, and the reason it can be seen as a manual to have at a hostage scene, is the second section.\u00a0 Strenz goes into how to negotiate and what to say to different types of hostage takers.\u00a0 He delves into what you say to an adolescent hostage taker, a suicidal hostage taker, an inadequate personality, a paranoid schiz, a bipolar hostage taker, an extremist, even a police assisted suicide who takes hostages.\u00a0 This section is worth its weight in gold because he not only gives you the rationale, he gives you lists on where to go with a negotiation and what to say and not to say.\u00a0 This is the brilliance of Strenz\u2019s organization.<\/span><\/p>\n

Okay, there are parts I am not crazy about.\u00a0 Not many but one or two sections.\u00a0 For example he recommends a critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) after a hostage situation for the team.\u00a0 In reality, the CISD is more for informational purposes and a group session of pure cognitive therapy would be much more effective, especially with an established team.\u00a0 But, that is a small piece and it reminds you that Strenz is not a psychologist and would be better to leave these things to a mental health professional.<\/span><\/p>\n

So if you want a good read and a good reference in this area of operational work, order Thomas Strenz Psychological Aspects of Crisis Negotiation<\/span><\/b>.\u00a0 You will not be disappointed.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you enjoyed this book review, sign up to receive\u00a0updates for\u00a0more posts on the latest in police psychology.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP
\n<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

For books by Dr. Gary S. Aumiller got to www.myherodad.com or www.myheromom.com<\/span><\/p>\n

Join me on Facebook or Linkedin (see sidebar)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What hits you first is the organization of the material.\u00a0 When I read Psychological Aspects of Crisis Negotiation by Thomas Strenz (Taylor and Francis Publishers, Boca Raton, Fla. 2006), I didn\u2019t expect to see what I saw.\u00a0 I guess I expected another rehashing of hostage negotiation materials, but what I got was the structure of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17168876],"tags":[17168796,17168799,17168798,17168800,17168797],"class_list":["post-11","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","tag-book-review","tag-fbi-gov","tag-hostage-negotiation","tag-mental-health","tag-police-psychology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=54","url_meta":{"origin":11,"position":0},"title":"Book Review: Crisis Negotiations: Managing Critical Incidents and Hostage Situations in Law Enforcement and Corrections","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"January 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I have been honored to give keynote addresses at a couple conferences for the Texas Hostage Negotiators and the FBI Crisis Teams and found them to be a very different type of cop.\u00a0 They are humble but at the same time show a lot of confidence.\u00a0 They have a way\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168876"},"img":{"alt_text":"crisis negotiations","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/crisis-negotiations-244x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3012,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=3012","url_meta":{"origin":11,"position":1},"title":"Police Psychology | Get Thee to a Conference","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"June 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | Get Thee to a Conference by Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D.\u00a0 ABPP \u00a0 My first experience with a professional conference came when I was 35 years old.\u00a0 My partner and I had started a newsletter for mental health of police officers in the late 80\u2019s.\u00a0 In an attempt\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Motives and Opportunity"","block_context":{"text":"Motives and Opportunity","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168884"},"img":{"alt_text":"Conference","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Conference-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1257,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=1257","url_meta":{"origin":11,"position":2},"title":"Police Psychology | Viral Infection","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"February 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | Viral Infection \u00a0 There are some things Police Psychology just hasn\u2019t figured out, in fact all of psychology is left puzzled when something goes viral. I was recently sent a video about a woman who has heard her fianc\u00e9 was gunned down in the street after a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Effort"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Effort","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168880"},"img":{"alt_text":"VIRAL MARKETING, police psychology","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/VIRAL-MARKETING-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5957,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=5957","url_meta":{"origin":11,"position":3},"title":"Police Psychology: Fake News","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"May 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology:\u00a0 Fake News by Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D.\u00a0 ABPP \u00a0 My first TV show appearance was in March 1991, a couple of days after the Rodney King Incident in Los Angeles.\u00a0 The president of the police union I worked with asked me to go along on a TV interview\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Resilience"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Resilience","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168882"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5571,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=5571","url_meta":{"origin":11,"position":4},"title":"Police Psychology: Does Torture Work?","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"March 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology:\u00a0 Does Torture Work? by Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D.\u00a0 ABPP If you go on the internet there are hundreds of articles that give you a resounding \u201cNo\u201d to this question.\u00a0 They repeat the same material, the same studies and give the same reasons to say torture doesn\u2019t even begin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Public Information Bureau"","block_context":{"text":"Public Information Bureau","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168888"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/torture-300x236.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":682,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=682","url_meta":{"origin":11,"position":5},"title":"Police Psychology | Fit To Be A Cop? How Much Testing is Enough?","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"September 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"POLICE PSYCHOLOGY | FIT TO BE A COP?\u00a0 HOW MUCH PSYCH TESTING IS ENOUGH? Laurence Miller, PhD BALTIMORE (Associated Press) \u2014 \"A psychological firm paid to evaluate troubled Baltimore police, including a lieutenant charged in the killing of Freddie Gray, is under investigation by the city and has been put\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tests"","block_context":{"text":"Tests","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168877"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p60sbO-b","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1144,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11\/revisions\/1144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}