{"id":{"repo_id":"duquesne","oai_identifier":"oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-1978"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/duquesne/oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-1978","repository":{"repo_id":"duquesne","name":"Duquesne","base_url":"https://dsc.duq.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Terrorist Kidnappings for Ransom: Explaining Hostage Outcomes","abstract":"In the wake of the death of her son, James Foley, Diane Foley stated, \"I pray that our government will be willing to learn from the mistakes that were made and to acknowledge that there are better ways for American citizens to be treated\" (Cumming and Vinograd 2015). The recent American deaths at the hands of terrorist groups have brought kidnapping and ransom policy to the forefront of the American psyche. In an effort to understand why hostages are released or killed in situations where a ransom is asked, we attempt to isolate and test key variables using a binary logistic regression. Our results show that paying a ransom significantly decreases the likelihood that a hostage will be killed. We also find that religious extremist groups are not more likely to kill a hostage than other groups. Other variables are tested and discussed. We hope that this study will inform policy makers on kidnapping situations for ransom and guide our understanding in kidnappings for ransom.","abstract_html":"In the wake of the death of her son, James Foley, Diane Foley stated, "I pray that our government will be willing to learn from the mistakes that were made and to acknowledge that there are better ways for American citizens to be treated" (Cumming and Vinograd 2015). The recent American deaths at the hands of terrorist groups have brought kidnapping and ransom policy to the forefront of the American psyche. In an effort to understand why hostages are released or killed in situations where a ransom is asked, we attempt to isolate and test key variables using a binary logistic regression. Our results show that paying a ransom significantly decreases the likelihood that a hostage will be killed. We also find that religious extremist groups are not more likely to kill a hostage than other groups. Other variables are tested and discussed. We hope that this study will inform policy makers on kidnapping situations for ransom and guide our understanding in kidnappings for ransom.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Mullen, Stephanie"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MA","degree_level":"Immediate Access","degree_discipline":"Graduate Center for Social and Public Policy","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jennie Schulze","Mark Haas"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:10:15Z","subjects":["hostage","international terrorism","kidnapping","ransom","terrorism","terrorists"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/962","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jennie Schulze","Mark Haas"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Mullen, Stephanie"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-08-03T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Graduate Center for Social and Public Policy"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Immediate Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MA"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["hostage","international terrorism","kidnapping","ransom","terrorism","terrorists"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/962"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In the wake of the death of her son, James Foley, Diane Foley stated, \"I pray that our government will be willing to learn from the mistakes that were made and to acknowledge that there are better ways for American citizens to be treated\" (Cumming and Vinograd 2015). The recent American deaths at the hands of terrorist groups have brought kidnapping and ransom policy to the forefront of the American psyche. In an effort to understand why hostages are released or killed in situations where a ransom is asked, we attempt to isolate and test key variables using a binary logistic regression. Our results show that paying a ransom significantly decreases the likelihood that a hostage will be killed. We also find that religious extremist groups are not more likely to kill a hostage than other groups. Other variables are tested and discussed. We hope that this study will inform policy makers on kidnapping situations for ransom and guide our understanding in kidnappings for ransom."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Terrorist Kidnappings for Ransom: Explaining Hostage Outcomes"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jennie Schulze","Mark Haas"],"dc:creator":["Mullen, Stephanie"],"dc:date.available":["2018-08-03T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["In the wake of the death of her son, James Foley, Diane Foley stated, \"I pray that our government will be willing to learn from the mistakes that were made and to acknowledge that there are better ways for American citizens to be treated\" (Cumming and Vinograd 2015). The recent American deaths at the hands of terrorist groups have brought kidnapping and ransom policy to the forefront of the American psyche. In an effort to understand why hostages are released or killed in situations where a ransom is asked, we attempt to isolate and test key variables using a binary logistic regression. Our results show that paying a ransom significantly decreases the likelihood that a hostage will be killed. We also find that religious extremist groups are not more likely to kill a hostage than other groups. Other variables are tested and discussed. We hope that this study will inform policy makers on kidnapping situations for ransom and guide our understanding in kidnappings for ransom."],"dc:identifier":["https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/962"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["hostage","international terrorism","kidnapping","ransom","terrorism","terrorists"],"dc:title":["Terrorist Kidnappings for Ransom: Explaining Hostage Outcomes"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Graduate Center for Social and Public Policy"],"thesis:degree_level":["Immediate Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["MA"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:10:15Z"}