- Martin Luther King, Jr. What is Entrapment? Entrapment, or the
"sacrifice trap" can be defined as "a decision making process
whereby individuals escalate their commitment to a previously
chosen, though failing, course of action in order to justify or
'make good on' prior investments." Though this happens in
everyday occurrences (see inset, right), it becomes especially
apparent when leaders pursue "questionable" wars or other
especially costly policies. The leaders of countries or
insurgent groups involved in intractable conflicts frequently
ask their constituents to make enormous sacrifices in pursuit of
the group's overall objectives. In addition to time and money,
constituents are frequently asked to endure enormous hardship,
personal injury, and even death. They may be separated from
their families and loved ones and forced to travel across their
country or overseas to advance their group's goals. People are
willing to make these sacrifices because they believe that there
are no less costly ways to prot