Thin Blue Mind / Smokey Heroes
Book Review: An evaluation of Thomas Strenz’s hostage negotiation methodology in “Psychological Aspects of Crisis Negotiation”
What hits you first is the organization of the material. When I read Psychological Aspects of Crisis Negotiation by Thomas Strenz (Taylor and Francis Publishers, Boca Raton, Fla. 2006), I didn’t expect to see what I saw. 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. In fact, it was organized more like a manual, than a book of descriptions of hostage situations and outcomes. For that reason, this is a book you may want to look to adding to your library.
Thomas Strenz has taught hostage negotiations at the FBI academy, and work with the FBI gov. 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. 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. What Strenz did was simple, but sometimes simplicity alludes writers of material in this field. He organized material to make it useful even at the scene of a hostage situation. 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. 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. (more…)
