Threats, Demands,and Communication Dynamics: Negotiating the 1991 Talladega Prison Siege.

Analysis was completed of over 100 Hostage Negotiation Situation Reports completed by FBI/BOP negotiators during the ten day Cuban detainee siege at the Federal Corrections Institution in Talladega, Alabama from August 21 to August 30, 1991. Specifically, the number and types of interactions, demands and threats that occurred during this crisis incident were examined. Results indicate that the hostage takers were generally oriented toward a negotiated resolution of the conflict. This conclusion is supported by (1) the specific communicative efforts hostage takers made to insure that the negotiators did not misinterpret events during particularly chaotic times, (2) environmental demands made were primarily in response to feeling threatened, and (3) threats made by hostage takers were not generally linked with specific demands but, rather, were made as a response to feeling threatened by actions taken by the FBI/BOP command. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]