Crisis/ Hostage Negotiation Series: Personality Disordered Subjects

Crisis negotiators routinely encounter individuals whose thinking, behavior and emotional responses do not align with typical crisis patterns. Personality disordered subjects present a distinct challenge, one that cannot be effectively managed through rapport-building alone or by relying on conventional de-escalation techniques. This eight-hour course is designed to help negotiators recognize, understand, and strategically respond to personality-driven behavior during high-risk incidents. This course examines how enduring personality traits influence perception, motivation, communication style and resistance to authority. Participants will explore the practical implications of negotiating with subjects exhibiting schizotypal, borderline, paranoid, antisocial, and narcissistic personality features. Rather than focusing on diagnosis, the course emphasizes behavioral recognition, operational impact, and communication strategies that support safety, influence and risk management.

Students will learn how personality disorders affect trust, attachment, control, entitlement, empathy and threat perception and why well-intentioned negotiation techniques may backfire if applied without adjustment.