A psychologist should never solicit demands from the hostage-taker as this will give the hostage-taker an increased sense of power -- something that should be avoided at all costs (Hatcher etal, 1998, p. 460). Rather a psychologist should wait for the hostage-taker to make demands. Once demands are made, the psychologist (or anyone else talking with the hostage-taker) should never dismiss the demands as unreasonable, impossible, or trivial. These demands are important to the hostage-taker and to dismiss his or her demands will in all likelihood be seen as a dismissal of the person and so cause the situation to escalate. The process of meeting a hostage-taker's demands is also one that can allow for an alliance to be built up over time between a psychologist and the hostage-taker, especially if the psychologist can break down negotiations into their component parts -- such as first negotiating that food will be...
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