Literature on and theories of terrorism and hostage taking are at an early stage of scientific development, and authors vary in their views on the relative importance of certain features. Nonetheless, several important and consistent findings are repeated throughout much of the literature. These findings concern chaacteristics of captors and abusers, methods of terrorists and abusers, ideology, the Stockholm syndrome involving pathological transferrence in which psychological pressure causes victims to cooperate with their captors or abusers in order to survive, and group identification and detachment from the outside world. Comparisons of characteristics of the captor-hostage situation and the abuser-abused situation suggest several commonalities. An understanding of the hostage model also brings into question certain fundamental concepts of the social worker-client relationship. In addition, the hostage model suggests that an individual's experience in a severely abusive relationship may impede the formation of other meaningful relationships. Consideration of similarities between hostages and abused children is essential for progress to occur in understanding, preventing, and treating child abuse and the high recidivism rate associated with abuse. 33 references