Patty Hearst’s Kidnapping and her Subsequent Criminal Behavior

Patty Hearst’s Kidnapping and her Subsequent Criminal Behavior

Isai Hosana Ake

Alvernia University

CJ422: Crisis Management

 Patty Hearst’s Kidnapping and her Subsequent Criminal Behavior 2

Abstract

This paper discusses the background, life, and behaviors of Patty Hearst. It includes an analysis

of her personality and behaviors from the perspective of Adlerian theory. Her childhood and

early social life are discussed in conjunction with her later kidnapping and criminal activities.

Keywords: Kidnapping, Criminal activities, Heiress, Hostage, Violent, Theory

 Patty Hearst’s Kidnapping and her Subsequent Criminal Behavior 3

Patty Hearst’s Kidnapping and Her Subsequent Criminal Behavior

In early 1974 a young, wealthy heiress was taken hostage by a group of left-wing radicals

known as the Symbionese Liberation Army. Their aim was to hold the heiress hostage while

agreeing to release her in exchange for millions of dollars in food donations to needy individuals

in the state of California. The young woman was Patricia Hearst, the granddaughter of William

Randolph Hearst, the founder of the Hearst Media empire. However, she was not released from

captivity, rather she became a part of the violent political group involved in heinous criminal

activities, including several robberies and acts of extortion. Tapes of her announcing her

participation in and support for the SLA’s criminal acts and political agenda were released by the

group. Over a year and a half after her kidnapping and subsequent joining of this radical group,

Patty Hearst was captured and prosecuted for participating in a bank robbery, for which she was

found guilty despite claims that she was the victim of Stockholm syndrome (Biography.com

Editors, 2020). After a short incarceration she was released, her criminal record cleared, and has

gone on to live a relatively “normal” life.

According to the Adlerian theory, there are many key aspects of Patty Hearst’s early and

later life that provide insight into her personality and behaviors. Hearst must be analyzed from a

holistic perspective, taking into account such aspects of her life as birth order, family

environment, sex, and goal orientation, to name a few. Hearst was the third of five daughters

born in her immediate family (Biography.com Editors, 2020). The Adlerian theory studies the

family arrangement in terms of the psychological position of each child. Being a child with many

siblings, the theory would suppose that she likely struggled in her search for significance among

her siblings and to stake out a “territory” in the family constellation that would provide her with

a feeling of importance and worth in the social context of her family unit. If she were unable to
 Patty Hearst’s Kidnapping and her Subsequent Criminal Behavior 4

secure her place in this fashion, it could lead to discouragement and engagement in maladaptive

behaviors in a misguided attempt to find her place (Wedding & Corsini, 2010). Perhaps, the ease

at which she was supposedly “brainwashed” can be attributed in part to this goal of finding a

place to belong and where she felt as though she had value, thus giving her life meaning. The

apparent ease with which she was integrated into the SLA and became not only supportive but

active in their activities relates to a self-selected goal that made her feel secure and preserved her

self-esteem. Her goal orientation was that if she acted of her own accord, it was her own choice,

not a direct result of her environment.

The Adlerian theory affirms that a person can shape both their internal and external

environments (Hoffman, 2023). Hearst would have chosen her attitude, belief, and behavior in

regard to the experience based on her developed beliefs. Being “bad” is not something intrinsic,

but is something chosen in accordance with a person’s lifestyle and assessment of a given

situation (Wedding & Corsini, 2010). The theory also explores the concept of the inferiority

complex, which would no doubt be at play. The tenets of Adler’s theory support the idea that

women feel inferior because they are undervalued within their cultural environment.

Hearst would have likely suffered from this inferior feeling and also other feelings related

to a discrepancy between her actual self and her ideal-self convictions (Wedding & Corsini,

2010). Feeling inferior is not considered to be abnormal, however, but when an individual acts as

though they are indeed inferior, it is considered an inferiority complex and labelled as abnormal.

For Hearst, perhaps her ideal self was a strong, superior individual who could feel valued,

respected, complete, and be a meaningful piece of a greater purpose. It is possible that as a

privileged child who was likely sheltered from the disagreeable realities of life, she was also

undervalued and felt less noticed than other siblings. So, she embraced the authority figure of her
 Patty Hearst’s Kidnapping and her Subsequent Criminal Behavior 5

radical and violent kidnappers and imagined that could make her feel and be all of the things she

lacked within the social context of her own family. Despite her abnormal behaviors, the Adlerian

theory would not have seen Hearst as sick, but merely discouraged and attempted to find the path

to self-idealization. And any type of possible neurosis associated with her behavior would be

seen as merely a product of distorted perceptions (Wedding & Corsini, 2010).

After her ordeal with the SLA and her short prison sentence, Patty Hearst went on to

marry her former bodyguard, have two children, and lead a relatively normal life. The Adlerian

theory may also look at Patty Hearst’s marriage to a former bodyguard as a result of pampering

on the part of her parents. The bodyguard was a figure in her life that offered safety and security

and according to the Adlerian concepts, adults who were pampered as children will seek out

others as a replacement for the security they felt as a child. It would seem apparent that Hearst

was actively seeking security in her life and lacked strong personal worth and convictions that

cast doubt on her own decisions and abilities, therefore she sought the comfort and security of

others who could provide for her (Wedding & Corsini, 2010). Even so, Hearst was able to

overcome a tumultuous and incredibly difficult time in her life. Adlerian theory on

psychotherapy would say that for Hearst to change her ideals and behaviors to a more healthy,

socially productive nature, she would have to overcome her feelings of discouragement, change

her goals and perceptions, alter faulty motivations, and recognise equality among individuals.

(Wedding & Corsini, 2010).

Patty Hearst, despite being a victim of kidnapping, was a criminal. One of the things

which should have been avoided when analyzing her case was the terms like “Stockholm

Syndrome” and “Brainwashing”, which are journalistic terms used to provide explanations for

how people behave the way they do. At some point before some of the major bank robberies, she
 Patty Hearst’s Kidnapping and her Subsequent Criminal Behavior 6

had already joined SLA and became part of the movement. As a vulnerable and restless teenage

girl who was looking for a way out of her current life, she was no longer enjoying, as she had

been engaged unhappily to Steven Weed, she took advantage of the kidnap. Although she had

been kidnapped violently and dangerously, in short order she joined the SLA. She later made a

rational choice under the circumstances of the kidnapping to voluntarily join the SLA. This is

because over the short period she was on the run under the SLA movement, there were so many

opportunities for her to leave the movement but she did not.

Releasing Patty Hearst after such a short period of 22 months was unfair to those who

had suffered as a result of her criminal activities. For instance, it was unfair to the family of a

woman who had been killed during one of the bank robberies she actively participated in. It was

also unfair to those who had lost property in Northern California following the bombs she had

voluntarily helped set. She should have served a longer sentence like other criminals because she

was a criminal too based on the number of criminal activities, she had voluntarily participated in.

Patty Hearst had so many opportunities which she could have utilized to escape, like when she

was left alone in the cars at the apartments and when she encountered the police. If she was truly

being forced to participate in the SLA activities, she could have utilized those opportunities to

escape. Her failure to utilize those opportunities was an indication that she had already become

part of SLA and was doing everything voluntarily.

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References

Biography.com Editors. (2020, June 17). Patty Hearst - Movie, trial & facts.

Biography. https://www.biography.com/crime/patty-hearst

Hoffman, R. (2023, September 7). Alfred Adler theory of individual psychology & personality.

Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/alfred-adler.html

Wedding, D. & Corsini, R. J. (2010). Case Studies in Psychotherapy (6th Ed.). Brooks Cole.