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| TEAM PSYCHOLOGIE & SICHERHEIT |
| TEAM PSYCHOLOGIE & SICHERHEIT |
Public Figures and Stalking in the
European Context
Dr. Jens Hoffmann
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Overview
The concept of fixation
Research in the USA
The European perspective
Celebrities as victims
Politicians as victims
Corporate figures as victims
Risk assessment and case management
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Starting point
There is little research on public figure stalking
Probably less than 1% of all scientific studies and reports on stalking are related tocelebrity victims
If one adopts a broader perspective, including also research that focuses not only onstalking but also on unusual communication and on attacks on public figures, morescientific work can be identified
Also, from a theoretical perspective it makes sense to link different behaviourssuch as stalking, other forms of unusual contacts and approaches, threats, andassassinations
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The concept of pathological fixation on public figures
In a general sense, fixation is defined as an intense preoccupation with anindividual, activity or idea. In its normal form fixation finds its expression for
instance in romantic love, parental affection or intense loyalty (Mullen et al.,2009)
In pathological fixations on public figures the individual believes that there is aspecial and individual connection to the famous person although in reality nomutual relationship exists
This belief often is rooted in mental illness
For the fixated individual the pathological fixation increasingly becomes thecenter of attention and activities in day-to-day life. Due to this dynamic thesocial network often erodes leaving the fixated person isolated and destitute(Meloy et al., 2008)
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The concept of pathological fixation on public figures
Pathological fixation can be primarily attached to a cause or to an individual orthere can be a mixed focus on both cause and person (Mullen et al., 2009)
An example for an attachment to a cause is a fixation on a politician who thefixated person believes could advance his interests or who on the contrary hasinjured his interests.
An example for an attachment to an individual is a fixation on a celebrity withwhom the fixated person believes to have an intimate relationship or who thefixated person believes is willing to have an intimate relationship with him orher
Fixated persons may become angry and resentful if their expectations are notfulfilled, this being the reason why a pathological fixation sometimes results ina violent act against a public figure
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Research in the USA
Systematic research started in the 80ties after the attack on USpresident Reagan
As a consequence of the attack different research groups startedanalyzing inappropiate communication addressed to politicians
and Hollywood celebrities looking for warnings signs that indicatelater approach behaviour
Other research projects focussed on attacks on public figures and
on celebrity stalking
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The European perspective
For the last 200 years at least there have been reports in different Europeancountries on unusual behavior which today we would call public figure stalking
or pathological fixations (Hoffmann, in print)
In 1838 the French psychiatrist Esquirol coined the term erotomania. He saw itas an insanity characterized by an exaggeration of nonsexual love towardanother person which in reality did not exist. In one of his case studies, Esquirol
described a man who was following an actress throughout Paris
1912 the Austro-German psychiatrist von Krafft-Ebing described obsessions withcelebrities in the past. In his classical textbook Psychopathia Sexuali, he notedthat women of all ages can be fascinated by successful actors, singers orathletes in such a manner that they overwhelm them with love letters
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The European perspective
German psychiatrist Bleuler (1943) If the mentally ill thinks that he cannothelp himself anymore with legal means, he acts in self-defense, shooting his
enemy or attempting a nonserious attack on a high-ranking figure because hewants to enforce an unprejudiced investigation
French psychiatrist de Clrambault (1921) described n one of his reports a
French woman who was stalking the British King George V. delusionally believingthat the sovereign was in love with her. he persistently pursued King George Vfrom 1918 onwards, paying several visits to England. She frequently waited forhim outside Buckingham Palace. She once saw a curtain move on one of thepalace windows and interpreted this as a signal from the King.
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Celebrities as victims
Dutch study on stalking of celebrities and politicians (Malsch etal., 2002)
Of the 105 public figures, 35 (33%) reported that they had beenstalked
Many (34%) of the stalkers were said to be mentally disordered
The stalkers of those in the entertainment world were more likelyto physically pursue their target
Celebrities who more regularly appeared on television and radiohad a greater chance of experiencing multiple stalking
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Celebrities as victims
German study of 53 celebrities, most of them news presenters(Hoffmann, 2005; Hoffmann & Sheridan, 2008)
79% (n = 42) reported having been stalked at some point in theircareer
Examined against a German population sample (Dressing et al.,2005) the rate for the public figure group was more than six timeshigher (79% vs. 12%)
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Celebrities as victims
The average figure of the longest longest period of harassment by one individualwas 25 months (SD = 27.61 months), ranging from periods of one month to morethan 10
In their meta-analysis of 175 stalking studies, Spitzberg and Cupach (2007)found that the average case of stalking lasted for 22 months years
Only a minority (14%; or 6) of the stalked television personalities declared thatthey had been targeted just once. The majority had been the target of a stalkermore frequently, most between two and five times in their career (62%; n = 26)
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Celebrities as victims
Letters sent by stalkers were clearly dominated by themes of love and adoration
Almost half of the sample (43%, n = 23) were physically approached by a stalker
Only one violent attack was reported within the study
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Politicians as victims
One general finding in the Dutch study was that the stalkers of politicianstended to remain distant. Also, the theme of the communication regularly
contained aggressive elements
James et al. (2007) studied 24 non-terrorist attacks on European politiciansfinding a high proportion of psychotic offenders
The mentally disordered were responsible for most of the fatal and seriouslyinjurious attacks. Most of them gave repeated warnings in the form of obviouslydisordered communications and approaches
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Boom of the New Economy in the 90s (Hoffmann & Sheridan, 2008)
Enterprises and their leaders became an inherent part of daily news coverage
Connection between number of media appearances and chance of becoming avictim of stalking and unusual contact behavior
Security officers report increasing numbers of unusual letters, e-mails andphysical approaches
Corporate figures as victims
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When the Bible was the principal medium of communication with greatness andthe only medium in most homes, the mentally ill most often had religious
delusions. In a secular age in which television, radio, and the movies havereplaced the role of the Bible in most lives, it should not surprise us that thementally ill have delusions about the new secular gods, particularly the gods
of love and power. (Dietz & Martell, 1989, pp. 16-2 16-3).
Corporate figures as victims
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Stalking, unusual contact behavior
Study Unusual letters to CEOs (Hoffmann, Gotcheva & von Groote, 2008)
83 unusual or threatening letters from 75 writers
More similar to letters to politicians than to celebrities
More often fixation on issue than on person
Often shorter duration of contact behavior
Often insults or threats
One third showed signs of mental illness
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The majority live a socially isolated life with few, if any attachments to others.They rarely have a stable sexual pair bond
Frequently, their employment and social history are unstable
They are often unhappy people, marked by despair
Many show signs of severe mental illness including psychotic symptoms
They wish to be connected with a well-known person and they feel entitled tosuch a bond. This aspect shows pathological narcissism. Less often, they feelpersecuted or personally betrayed by the public figure, which suggests a clinicaldegree of paranoia.
Characteristics of fixated persons (Hoffmann & Meloy, 2008)
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More info:
Meloy, JR, Sheridan L. & Hoffmann, J. (eds)
Stalking, threatening and attacking public figures.
New York: Oxford University Press 2008