public figures and stalking in the european context

7/30/2019 Public Figures and Stalking in the European Context

1/18

| TEAM PSYCHOLOGIE & SICHERHEIT |

| TEAM PSYCHOLOGIE & SICHERHEIT |

Public Figures and Stalking in the

European Context

Dr. Jens Hoffmann


2/18

Seite 2| TEAM PSYCHOLOGIE & SICHERHEIT |

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


3/18


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


4/18


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)


5/18


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


6/18


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


7/18



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


8/18



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.


9/18



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


10/18



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%)


11/18



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)


12/18



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


13/18


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


14/18


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



15/18


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).



16/18


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


17/18


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)


18/18


More info:

Meloy, JR, Sheridan L. & Hoffmann, J. (eds)

Stalking, threatening and attacking public figures.

New York: Oxford University Press 2008

public figures and stalking in the european context

Documents