Saving Lives: The S.A.F.E. Model for Resolving Hostage and Crisis Incidents (Praeger Security International)

The standoff and ultimate tragedy in Waco, Texas, highlights the potential volatility and uncertainty of crisis negotiations and demonstrates the challenges law enforcement officials face as they attempt to resolve these situations. Hammer's book provides a practical negotiation approach (the S.A.F.E. model) that hostage negotiators and first responders can use to help save lives in situations where violence or the threat of violence is present. He identifies methods of interaction and communication during a hostage crisis that help to dispel tension and resolve situations peacefully.

Combining approaches from various schools of thought on the topic, and applying the methods to both domestic and international contexts, the author has devised a model that is applicable to many types of crisis negotiations and focuses on interaction, communication, and discourse designed to bring a situation down to a manageable level. Through the analysis of several cases representing domestic, criminal, and suicidal situations, he provides a vivid roadmap to the ways in which crisis negotiation can be used to dispel violence before it takes place.

Publisher: Greenwood Press

Published: United States, 30 September 2007

Format: Hardcover, 259 pages

Other Information: 70 figures, 5 tables

Dimensions: 23.8 x 16.6 x 2.6 centimeters (0.52 kg)

Writer: Hammer, Mitchell R.

Promotional Information

"Dr. Hammer has taken a very good theory to a practical, life saving practice. The communication-based S.A.F.E. model is the most exciting and effective breakthrough in hostage/crisis negotiations in two decades. It gives the hostage negotiator a dynamic new tool with which to save lives." -- Major Robert Beach (retired), Hostage Negotiation Commander, Fairfax County Virginia Police Department "Dr. Hammer's book offers invaluable insights into the dynamics of crisis and hostage negotiation from a communication-based focus. Though the book is solidly grounded in scholarly theory, Hammer deftly blends this with practical application gleaned through his knowledge and experience in crisis negotiations. This book is a necessary resource for scholars and practitioners alike." -- Dr. Randall G. Rogan, Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication, Wake Forest University "Mitch Hammer's wonderful book delivers what its title projects--a way to save lives. By providing negotiators with the conceptual tools to assess a hostage-taker or a suicidal person's talk during negotiation exchanges in volatile situations, Hammer insures that law enforcement agents will be well equipped to decide which communicative practices to employ, whatever the crisis might be. Saving Lives displays in a compelling fashion how theoretical ideas about communication can be refashioned to be directly useful in an important social practice." -- Dr. Karen Tracy, Professor, Department of Communication University of Colorado "Mitch Hammer, a distinguished scholar and practitioner, applies his rich experience to creating a model of conflict resolution that goes beyond instrumental conflict. Saving Lives deals with identity and relational conflicts. It is a remarkable contribution both to theory and practice in the field. Hammer provides penetrating theoretical insights and demonstrates their applicability to four critical hostage incidents: the Alpha incident, the Bravo incident, the Charlie incident, and the Delta incident. Equally important, he provides a clear map for future research and practice. Our toolbox of hostage crisis negotiation has been vastly enriched. Saving Lives benefits practitioners, academics, public officials, and private organizations, as well as university students." -- Dr. Abdul Aziz Said, Professor and Director of the International Peace and Conflict Resolution program, American University "Saving Lives: The S.A.F.E. Model for Negotiating Hostage and Crisis Incidents, by Mitchell Hammer, Ph.D. advances the field of Hostage/Crisis Negotiation in two major ways: (1) it provides a systematic and integrated model of the important issues in any crisis, and (2) it brings into focus a facet of Crisis Negotiation often neglected by traditional negotiator training, the importance of being sensitive to and dealing well with face issues. All criminal justice negotiators will be more effective if they study, understand, and apply the principles in the S.A.F.E. model." -- Dr. Michael J. McMains, Author, Crisis Negotiations: Managing Critical Incidents in Law Enforcement and Corrections "Mitch Hammer's book, Saving Lives, is a needed and welcomed reminder of the evolution of crisis negotiation as a police discipline. It is also a sound and thoughtfully researched thesis that critically takes a look at the methods and philosophies of the discipline. More important though, the book introduces a practical strategy that blends together the work of academics, trainers, and the negotiators that labor with such dedication and sincerity to save so many lives. Saving Lives will do just that." -- William Hogewood, Hostage Negotiator and Trainer "Saving Lives is an excellent combination of theory and practical application for conflict management professionals interested in crisis negotiation or other forms of high conflict, intractable conflicts. Mitchell Hammer has provided a compelling presentation of the S.A.F.E. model and the analysis of crisis negotiation four wonderfully developed case studies. This book is a must read for dispute resolution professionals." -- Tricia S. Jones, Ph.D., Dept. of Psychological Studies, College of Education, Temple University

About the Author

Mitchell R. Hammer is President of Hammer Consulting, LLC, a conflict and crisis resolution organization, and Professor Emeritus of International Peace and Conflict Resolution at The American University, The School of International Service, International Peace and Conflict Resolution. He is co-editor, with Randall G. Rogan and Clinton R. Van Zandt, of Dynamic Processes of Crisis Negotiation: Theory, Research and Practice (Praeger, 1997). Dr. Hammer frequently provides expert analysis for the media, including NBC News, CNN, USA Today, and the Washington Post.

Reviews

"Hammer is on to something that not only is important for successfully ending hostage situations with or without use of tactical operations personnel but also is consonant with important trends in the last 80 years of cultural anthropology, psychology, and the human sciences....Hammer's work contains solid, practical information. We may handle such events more safely because of it. More needs to be done, and Hammer is pointing a way forward." - PsycCRITITQUES