Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T15:42:13.336Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Stalkers and harassers of royalty: the role of mental illness and motivation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2009

D. V. James ,
P. E. Mullen ,
M. T. Pathé ,
J. R. Meloy ,
L. F. Preston ,
B. Darnley  and
F. R. Farnham
D. V. James
Affiliation:
North London Forensic Service, London, UK
P. E. Mullen*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Monash University and Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health, Victoria, Australia
M. T. Pathé
Affiliation:
Threat Management Centre, Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia
J. R. Meloy
Affiliation:
Forensis Inc., San Diego, CA, USA
L. F. Preston
Affiliation:
North London Forensic Service, London, UK
B. Darnley
Affiliation:
North London Forensic Service, London, UK
F. R. Farnham
Affiliation:
North London Forensic Service, London, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: Professor P. E. Mullen, D.Sc., FRC.Psych., Clinical Director, Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health, Thomas Embling Hospital, Locked Bag 10, Fairfield, Victoria 3078, Australia. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Public figures are at increased risk of attracting unwanted attention in the form of intrusions, stalking and, occasionally, attack. Whereas the potential threat to the British Royal Family from terrorists and organized groups is clearly defined, there is a dearth of knowledge about that from individual harassers and stalkers. This paper reports findings from the first systematic study of this group.

Method

A retrospective study was conducted of a randomly selected stratified sample (n=275) of 8001 files compiled by the Metropolitan Police Service's Royalty Protection Unit over 15 years on inappropriate communications or approaches to members of the British Royal Family. Cases were split into behavioural types. Evidence of major mental illness was recorded from the files. Cases were classified according to a motivational typology. An analysis was undertaken of associations between motivation, type of behaviour and mental illness.

Results

Of the study sample, 83.6% were suffering from serious mental illness. Different forms of behaviour were associated with different patterns of symptomatology. Cases could be separated into eight motivational groups, which also showed significant differences in mental state. Marked differences in the intrusiveness of behaviour were found between motivational groups.

Conclusions

The high prevalence of mental illness indicates the relevance of psychiatric intervention. This would serve the health interests of psychotic individuals and alleviate protection concerns without the necessity of attempting large numbers of individual risk predictions. The finding that some motivations are more likely to drive intrusive behaviours than others may help focus both health and protection interventions.

Keywords

Harassmentpublic figuresstalkingthreat assessment
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 39 , Issue 9 , September 2009 , pp. 1479 - 1490
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

A Constant Observer (1823). Sketches in Bedlam: or, Characteristic Traits of Insanity, as Displayed in the Cases of One Hundred and Forty Patients of Both Sexes, Now or Recently Confined in New Bethlem. Sherwood, Jones & Co.: London.Google Scholar
Biesterfeld, J, Meloy, JR (2008). The public figure assassin as terrorist. In Stalking, Threatening, and Attacking Public Figures: A Psychological and Behavioral Analysis (ed. Meloy, J. R., Sheridan and, L.Hoffmann, J.), pp. 143–162. Oxford University Press: New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin 112, 155–159.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fein, RA & Vossekuil, B (1998). Preventing attacks on public officials and public figures: a Secret Service perspective. In The Psychology of Stalking (ed. Meloy, J. R.), pp. 176–191. Academic Press: San Diego.Google Scholar
Hansard, (2007). House of Commons Daily Debates, 25 June 2007: column 302W. The Stationery Office: London (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070625/text/70625w0068.htm). Accessed 18 September 2008.Google Scholar
James, DV, Mullen, PE, Meloy, JR, Pathé, MT, Farnham, FR, Preston, LF, Darnley, B (2007). The role of mental disorder in attacks on European politicians 1990–2004. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 116, 334–344.Google Scholar
James, DV, Mullen, PE, Meloy, JR, Pathé, MT, Farnham, FR, Preston, LF, Darnley, B (2008). Attacks on the British Royal Family: the role of psychotic illness. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 36, 59–67.Google Scholar
Lowney, KS, Best, J (1995). Stalking strangers and lovers: changing media typifications of a new crime problem. In Images of Issues: Typifying Contemporary Social Problems (ed. Best, J.), pp. 33–57. Aldine De Gruyter: New York.Google Scholar
Meloy, JR, James, DV, Farnham, FR, Mullen, PE, Pathé, MT, Darnley, B, Preston, L (2004). A research review of public figure threats, approaches, attacks, and assassinations in the United States. Journal of Forensic Sciences 49, 1086–1093.Google Scholar
Meloy, JR, Mohandie, K, Green, M (2008 a). A forensic examination of those who stalk celebrities. In Stalking, Threatening and Attacking Public Figures (ed. Meloy, J. R., Sheridan and, L.Hoffmann, J.), pp. 37–54. Oxford University Press: New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meloy, JR, Sheridan, L, Hoffmann, J (2008 b). Stalking, Threatening and Attacking Public Figures: A Psychological and Behavioral Analysis. Oxford University Press: New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mullen, PE, James, DV, Meloy, JR, Pathé, MT, Farnham, FR, Preston, L, Darnley, B (2008). The role of psychotic illnesses in attacks on public figures. In Stalking, Threatening and Attacking Public Figures (eds. Meloy, J. R., Sheridan and, L.Hoffmann, J.), pp. 55–82. Oxford University Press: New York.Google Scholar
Mullen, PE, MacKenzie, RD, Ogloff, JRP, Pathé, MT, McEwan, T, Purcell, R (2006). Assessing and managing the risks in the stalking situation. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 34, 439–450.Google Scholar
Mullen, PE, Pathé, MT, Purcell, R (2009). Stalkers and their Victims, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.Google Scholar
Phillips, RTM (2006). Assessing presidential stalkers and assassins. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 34, 154–164.Google ScholarPubMed
Phillips, RTM (2007). Celebrity and special targets. In Stalking: Psychiatry Perspectives and Practical Approaches (ed. Pinals, D.), pp. 227–250. Oxford University Press: New York.Google Scholar
Poole, S (2000). The Politics of Regicide in England, 1760–1850: Troublesome Subjects. Manchester University Press: Manchester and New York.Google Scholar
Rose, D (2007). ‘I've given you the chance to help, but you haven't. Now someone is going to have to die.’ In The Observer, 26 August 2007 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2007/aug/26/features.magazine67). Accessed 18 September 2008.Google Scholar
Scalora, M, Baumgartner, J, Zimmerman, W, Callaway, D, Maillette, M, Covell, C, Palarea, R, Krebs, J, Washington, D (2002 a). An epidemiological assessment of problematic contacts to members of Congress. Journal of Forensic Sciences 47, 1–5.Google Scholar
Scalora, M, Baumgartner, J, Zimmerman, W, Callaway, D, Maillette, M, Covell, C, Palarea, R, Krebs, J, Washington, D (2002 b). Risk factors for approach behavior toward the U.S. Congress. Journal of Threat Assessment 2, 35–55.Google Scholar
Siegel, S, Castellan, NJ (1988). Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, 2nd edn. McGraw-Hill Book Company: New York.Google Scholar
Zona, MA, Sharma, KK, Lane, J (1993). A comparative study of erotomanic and obsessional subjects in a forensic sample. Journal of Forensic Sciences 38, 894–903.Google Scholar