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Police Trying to Find Out What Happened During Time Smart Held Captive
Aired March 14, 2003 - 11:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Elizabeth Smart's nine month-old ordeal has ended and now police are trying to find out what happened during the time she was held captive.
Joining us to talk about the case is Jack Levin. He is a criminologist and sociologist at Northeastern University. He is joining us this morning from Boston.
Jack, good morning. Thanks for being with us.
JACK LEVIN, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: Good morning.
KAGAN: A lot of people looking at what has happened to Elizabeth over the last nine months, a lot of sightings. A lot of people saying, why didn't she just walk away? There was definitely the opportunity.
LEVIN: I know. You know, I'm really concerned that we will take her victimization and blame her for it. And you're absolutely right, I already hear people say, why didn't she just leave? Well, you know, there's an illusion of absolute control. Crazy situations can make normal people do abnormal things. We see this every day in stage hypnotism, where an otherwise reserved subject is made to laugh like a hyena and do all kinds of other outrageous things that he or she would never do otherwise, and it's pure suggestion. For a period of time the subject or victim believes totally that someone else controls her fate, that there isn't anything that she can do to get away, and if she does, they're going to kill her family, they're going to kill her.
We see this in cult behavior all the time, when cults isolate someone that they're recruiting and surround that person with those who will support the cult's ideas. They won't let that person have any contact with family or friends, because that would just reduce the influence of those cult members.
KAGAN: Let's look at some of the things that are coming out, that we know happened to Elizabeth. First of all, the way she was taken from her home. That is disturbing. You're dealing with a girl at the time who was 14 years old, and you don't know how much street smart she had.
LEVIN: Which is very important.
KAGAN: Why that age?
LEVIN: Well, you know, adolescence is marked by confusion about identity. Teenagers are extremely malleable. They're suggestible. They're easy to manipulate anyone. And then on top of that, you threaten her with at knife point. You say you're going to kill her family. And then you isolate her so that she has no other influences in her life. Patty Hearst...
KAGAN: What about the significance that she had so say her name was Augustine, that he even changed her name?
LEVIN: Yes, he tried, and he did it successfully. He tried to change her identity. That's what a name is all about. It identifies us as a human being, as a person, and he actually was very successful in changing her identity.
KAGAN: Well, she has a lot of work ahead of her to get back into the life of a 15-year-old in Utah, and we definitely wish her well.
Jack Levin, thanks for stopping by and visiting with us today. We appreciate it.
LEVIN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Held Captive>
Aired March 14, 2003 - 11:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Elizabeth Smart's nine month-old ordeal has ended and now police are trying to find out what happened during the time she was held captive.
Joining us to talk about the case is Jack Levin. He is a criminologist and sociologist at Northeastern University. He is joining us this morning from Boston.
Jack, good morning. Thanks for being with us.
JACK LEVIN, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: Good morning.
KAGAN: A lot of people looking at what has happened to Elizabeth over the last nine months, a lot of sightings. A lot of people saying, why didn't she just walk away? There was definitely the opportunity.
LEVIN: I know. You know, I'm really concerned that we will take her victimization and blame her for it. And you're absolutely right, I already hear people say, why didn't she just leave? Well, you know, there's an illusion of absolute control. Crazy situations can make normal people do abnormal things. We see this every day in stage hypnotism, where an otherwise reserved subject is made to laugh like a hyena and do all kinds of other outrageous things that he or she would never do otherwise, and it's pure suggestion. For a period of time the subject or victim believes totally that someone else controls her fate, that there isn't anything that she can do to get away, and if she does, they're going to kill her family, they're going to kill her.
We see this in cult behavior all the time, when cults isolate someone that they're recruiting and surround that person with those who will support the cult's ideas. They won't let that person have any contact with family or friends, because that would just reduce the influence of those cult members.
KAGAN: Let's look at some of the things that are coming out, that we know happened to Elizabeth. First of all, the way she was taken from her home. That is disturbing. You're dealing with a girl at the time who was 14 years old, and you don't know how much street smart she had.
LEVIN: Which is very important.
KAGAN: Why that age?
LEVIN: Well, you know, adolescence is marked by confusion about identity. Teenagers are extremely malleable. They're suggestible. They're easy to manipulate anyone. And then on top of that, you threaten her with at knife point. You say you're going to kill her family. And then you isolate her so that she has no other influences in her life. Patty Hearst...
KAGAN: What about the significance that she had so say her name was Augustine, that he even changed her name?
LEVIN: Yes, he tried, and he did it successfully. He tried to change her identity. That's what a name is all about. It identifies us as a human being, as a person, and he actually was very successful in changing her identity.
KAGAN: Well, she has a lot of work ahead of her to get back into the life of a 15-year-old in Utah, and we definitely wish her well.
Jack Levin, thanks for stopping by and visiting with us today. We appreciate it.
LEVIN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Held Captive>
