Analyzing Police Hostage Negotiations with the Verbal Interactional Analysis Technique

Communication Patterns in Hostage Negotiations

“…By examining a series of specific behaviors, it may be possible to make predictions about which behaviors are effective and which are not effective in the progression toward a peaceful outcome (Fowler, DeVivo & Fowler, 1985).…”

“…The effectiveness of this system prompted the manipulation of the system for hostage negotiations by Fowler, DeVivo, and Fowler in 1985. It followed the same set of recording rules but the categories of behaviors were changed to fit hostage situations.…”

“…Codes used in the CCRS were developed through research based on crisis communication, client-therapist interaction, marital interaction, and analysis of hostage negotiation transcripts used for the training of crisis negotiators at the FBI academy (Callaghan, Summers & Weidman, 2003;Donohue, Ramesh & Borschgrevink, 1991;Donohue & Roberto, 1993;Donohue & Roberto, 1996;Fowler, DeVivo & Fowler, 1985;Gottman, 1979). In addition, two professional crisis negotiators provided feedback regarding verbal behaviors found in hostage negotiation situations and provided guidance toward which verbal behaviors were more prevalent than others and which behaviors were unlikely to occur (Walker, 2002;Hober, 2003).…”

“…Sequential analysis is a statistical tool that examines a series of behaviors and determines the chances of those behaviors occurring, given the occurrence of another behavior or set of behaviors (Bakeman & Gottman, 1986). Sequential analysis has been used in many areas of verbal interaction such as marital interactions, student-teacher interactions, and crisis situations (Bakeman & Gottman, 1986;Bednar & Curington, 1983;Fowler, DeVivo & Fowler, 1985). These areas of interactions have different goals, but the underlining process is the same.…”

Dealing with Defenestrators

“…Finessing-skillfully maneuvering the jumper; this includes the use of authority and artifice. (Fowler, DeVivo & Fowler, 1985) None of this is new to the experienced crisis negotiator. The more specific methods that we have named for our own purposes may also be familiar to the veteran and are better demonstrated than described in writing.…”