In order to form military units which will remain loyal to each other even in life-threatening situations, the basic training ("training is a mildly traumatic experience intended to produce a bond") used by military trainers can be said to produce a mild form of the same symptom.
Similarily, the effects of the "hazing" system of induction into groups such as fraternities and sororities have been compared to the syndrome. In cultural anthropology a similar symptom is common to bride capture situations.
Loyalty to a more powerful abuser - in spite of the danger that this loyalty puts the victim in - is common among victims of domestic abuse (battered wives) and child abuse (dependent children). In many instances the victims choose to remain loyal to their abuser, and choose not to leave him or her, even when they are offered a safe placement in foster homes or safe houses. This syndrome was described by psychoanalysts of the object relations theory school (see Fairbairn) as the phenomenon of
psychological identification with the more powerful abuser.
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