Toward a model of terrorist behavior in hostage-taking incidents

Behavior in terrorist hostage taking is examined using published accounts o f 100 incidents of aerial hijack and 60 incidents of barricade siege occurr ing worldwide over the past three decades. The use of multidimensional scal ogram analysis demonstrates that behavior in terrorist hostage taking is hi ghly structured. Behavioral similarities between incidents carried out by t he same terrorist organization are demonstrated, and the structures underly ing the use of resources in barricade siege and the demands issued in aeria l hijacking an:presented. The implications for theory development and train ing and decision making in hostage negotiation are discussed.