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SALT LAKE CITY -- Elizabeth Smart's decision to remain silent two months into her ordeal and not reveal herself to a police detective standing inches away is no surprise to experts.
When we're terrified for our lives, we're going to do what we need to do to survive.
–Doug Goldsmith
She could have saved herself seven more months of fear and misery if she'd just said, "Yes, I'm Elizabeth." But she didn't because Brian David Mitchell was calling the shots.
"When we're terrified for our lives, we're going to do what we need to do to survive," said psychologist Doug Goldsmith, executive director of The Children's Center.
He said Smart's behavior during her nine-month ordeal fits a known pattern, even for adults who fall under the control of rapists and kidnappers. Most victims would respond exactly as Elizabeth Smart did, Goldsmith said, because she was totally controlled by a man who repeatedly threatened to kill her and her family. And that's what stopped her from speaking up.
"He's already shown that she's not safe in the home," Goldsmith said of that day in June 2002. "Her family's not safe in the home. What's going to stop him or some mystery friend from breaking in again? That level of terror is what's forcing her to do all she can to stay alive."
Related:
Elizabeth Smart resumes testifying at Mitchell trial
Elizabeth Smart testified for a second day Tuesday at the trial of her accused kidnapper, Brian David Mitchell.On top of that, the well-known Stockholm Syndrome would have already affected the 14-year-old. Kidnap victims often bond with their abductors, even when they are cruel.
"People actually do attach to that person," Goldsmith said, "because her life depends on staying close to him. So she really doesn't have a choice."
Heather Stringfellow, director of the Rape Recovery Center, agrees that Smart's behavior is unsurprising.
"She described going into survivor mode," Stringfellow said, "and I think that's very common."
She said Smart's case is extremely unusual in many respects; but in some ways, Mitchell is a typical rapist.
"There are many studies that document the motivations of rapists," Stringfellow said. "It's about power control. Sex is a weapon that they use to exert power and control over people."
Stringfellow said most rape victims never get a chance to go to court. In most cases, the crime is never reported or the perpetrator is never caught or the case is disposed of in some other way. Rape cases often drag on for a long time, but in the case of Elizabeth Smart it's taken most of a decade.
"I think we need to give credit to the Smart family and to Elizabeth for having stuck with it and her willingness to get up on the stand and tell the most personal of stories," Stringfellow said. "It's such a personal story that you're expected to tell the world. I mean, for her in particular, it's a remarkable thing to ask of someone. And that she's done it is just amazing."
Goldsmith echoed that point. "It takes unbelievable courage to do what she's doing," the psychologist said.
Both experts say Smart's testimony may turn out to be therapeutic, a way to put the ordeal behind her and give her a chance to get on with her life.
"This is actually a way for her to get out some of the anger that she must harbor," Goldsmith said, "even after all these years.'You (Mitchell) did this to me and now I'm telling the world. I'm exposing you.'"
E-mail: hollenhorst@ksl.com
