Jaycee Lee Dugard: More or Less Than Stockholm Syndrome

A week ago, further details about the interrogation that led to the discovery of Jaycee Lee Dugard, 18 years after her abduction have finally come to light. According to the reports, Jaycee was supposedly defending her kidnapper Phillip Garrido calling him a good man and was a great father to the two daughters, which she had with him during her 18-year imprisonment of captivity and rape. To the readers, it's the immediate and final confrontation that Jaycee had Stockholm Syndrome. It was the first thing that came to people's minds, first off, when people saw the headline "after 18 years". Surely in their minds, no one would ever let themselves be held captive that long unless they were dead or had developed "love" for their captors. The Stockholm Syndrome idea only grew on people moreso when it was revealed that Jaycee had been working in the Garridos' printing business from their house and had direct contact with other people.

A lot of people want to make a "syndrome" out of what Jaycee went through. In the public eye, it has become too easy to ask questions like why didn't Jaycee called out for help when any rational person (even a child) would. Personally, I'm sick of all the discussion of Jaycee's Stockholm Syndrome as it seems to put a negative aspect on things. They're placing a label on something that not many people would understand unless they actually live it. It's really unfair to Jaycee as perhaps there is no other child abduction story in the world that has any similarity to hers (not any that have come to light anyway). People are quick to make judgment that put partial blame on the victim. This is not just in Jaycee's case. Many who read this article probably know a friend or a relative who are in an abusive relationship and are scratching their heads to find out why it's so difficult for these victims to just leave the relationship and report the abuser's actions to the police. Of course we would not understand because we're not, nor have we likely been, the ones who are living their situation.

In Jaycee's case perhaps escaping would've been as simple as climbing over the fence as the Google Earth revelation of her backyard prison shows. But you don't hear people saying "well maybe it wasn't that simple". Jaycee did not have the perspective of the backyard prison that we now have thanks to media photos. It's quite possible that Jaycee during her 18-year imprisonment had not explored or gained knowledge of her entire backyard prison given how many fences within fences were made. Let's not forget that there was a shed that was soundproof and could only be open from the outside. This was the place where her imprisonment likely began (not just the backyard itself). The likely theory here is that after she had Garrido's children, was Jaycee allowed to have a larger prison in the backyard itself. And it wouldn't be likely until the later years that Jaycee would ever even see the inside of the house that her captors lived in.

So a lot of people are asking why didn't Jaycee try to contact her parents once she as allowed access to the internet as part of her work in Garrido's business. Has it not occurred to anyone that Jaycee was abducted and held in isolation many years before the Internet (or email) was even created? Her family likely had email addresses but how was she to know what they were if she had never experienced the email or the Internet until so long into captivity? Garrido was likely keeping close tabs on what messages she wrote and sent to customers, which would've been enough to scare Jaycee into sending for help. Perhaps Jaycee still did not fully understand the full potential of the Internet and believed that it was only for communicating with certain people. No one has ever come up with these theories, which amazes me.

And finally there is the recent revelations behind her being questioned when Garrido brought his wife, Jaycee, and the two daughters to the police station. Perhaps there is a part of Jaycee who did form a dependency to Garrido out of fear and possibly other reasons but there are a hundred articles out there on this subject already. I have my own theory as to why it was so hard for Jaycee to reveal the truth about herself until Garrido finally made his confession.

Now sadly, we should know that Jaycee's captivity was not a complete black-and-white situation. This was because Jaycee's two daughters, despite being forced to live in the backyard with Jaycee had been exposed to a positive abuse-free relationships with the Garridos...something that was denied of Jaycee. In fact the girls had gotten out of the house a lot more than Jaycee got to in her 18 years in captivity, which was likely never. The two daughters, Starlet and Angel believed that Jaycee was their older sister and grew up believing that this was their family. Because the two daughters had never been abused sexually, there was no reason for the two of them to believe that anything was wrong with their family.

Jaycee knew this was the case. She knew that the daughters would come to love their father and probably had no choice but to accept that despite what he did to her. This led to a dilemma on her part.

Now imagine if you will, you're a kid in elementary or high school and you have a friend whose dad or mom is up to no good. They might be abusing kids or running an illegal drug lab or whatnot. You know what they're doing is wrong and should be reported to the police, yet at the same time, you know that if you report the crimes of the parents to the police, the children will lose that parent to prison. Likely such children will be placed in foster care and most children become upset, fearful, and angry with such a transition. In some cases the children will have been completely unaware of their parents crimes, which was likely the case here.

For Jaycee, it felt like a lose-lose situation. A part of her knew that if she went home or let herself be found, it would result in the Garridos being arrested and the two daughters losing a father whom they depended on and looked up to so much (especially given what little exposure to adults that they've had). By this time, Jaycee had to make a choice and she chose her daughters. Therefore, the events that resulted at the police station where Jaycee was finally discovered was the very thing that Jaycee was trying to prevent. And now, aside from the guilt of bonding with her captor on some level, she likely now has some guilt over her unintentional part in the girls losing their father to prison indefinitly. Jaycee probably felt worse when the girls cried at their father's arrest. After all, who wouldn't feel a little sorry about breaking apart of family when the children were loved?

There's been little way of seeing all of this from the perspective of the three girls. Starlet and Angel likely never felt like captives or victims. They were probably happy with their lives and as a mother forced to pretend to be their sister, Jaycee felt it was in their best interests to allow them their happiness and live the lie even if it meant that Jaycee herself would never see her own family again.

Years from now, when more details of the kidnapping will finally come to light. It could be that the daughters may hold some resentment toward Jaycee for taking away what the two girls had always felt was "a good life". They will be the ones failing to understand why Jaycee said she was their sister instead of their mother or why she never tried to escape. They may even reject all the therapy they are currently receiving and believe that this was all a hate-conspiracy against their father.

For now, we will need a great amount of patience. Results and realizations from all perspectives are unlikely to become clear until maybe 5-10 years in the future and even then we may still be second-guessing some things.

This is why we need to girls some space. This is why we need to support Jaycee in anyway and let her know that she is not at fault for everything that has happened to her. She is not at fault for not escaping. Every kidnapping victim has a different way of coping with their situation. It doesn't always lead back to Stockholm Syndrome. After all, two children were born during Jaycee's captivity. This only made things a lot more complex. Had Jaycee never had children, she would've likely had more reason and will to escape. But in her rare case, she had to look out for their well being whether it meant protecting them from harm...or keeping them as happy and comfortable as possible. Since the two daughters were never abused by Garrido, it was likely the latter that inhibited Jaycee's will to escape when opportunities began to open up. Because when Jaycee was kidnapped she likely had no concept of things such as abusive families or poor living conditions for children. How was she when all education and life experience stopped at age 11?

Stockholm Syndrome is too easy an answer for what has happened here. It's what we, as readers, want to believe until the real answers come but something tells me that when they do, it still won't be as simple as a psychological label. But until then, we have to wait for Jaycee to have time to reflect and gain better knowledge of the past 18 years in order to understand why she made the decisions that she made. As human beings, we can only do what we think is the best choice in any situation whether we're 11 years old or 29 years old. Decisions change, ideas change, and views change. Instead of calling it Stockholm Syndrome, let us call what Jaycee did surviving and making the best judgment calls she could think of (with her limited knowledge) for her children and just give her a break. How was she was to know throughout 18 years what we know now about the case by just picking up a newspaper?

Details of Jaycee's questioning at the police station:http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_13722609

Pictures/maps of the backyard compound: http://extras.mercurynews.com/slideshows/news/2009/08/jaycee_dugard_0828/