Stalking, Threatening, and Attacking Public Figures

Public figures require attention, whether from a constituency who votes them in or out of office, shareholders who decide their economic benefit to the corporation, or fans who judge their performances. However, on the periphery of this normal attention resides a very real risk; that of a much smaller group of individuals who lack the ability to discriminate between their own private fantasies and the figure's public behavior. They may be personally insulted by perceived betrayal, fanatically in love due to a perceived affectionate or sexual invitation, or simply preoccupied with the daily life of the public figure. Such individuals may fixate and do nothing more. Others communicate or approach in a disturbing way. A few will threaten. And on rare occasions, one will breach the public figure's security perimeter and attack.

Stalking, Threatening, and Attacking Public Figures is a comprehensive survey of the current knowledge about stalking, violence risk, and threat management towards public figures. With contributions from forensic psychologists and psychiatrists, clinicians, researchers, attorneys, profilers, and current and former law enforcement enforcement professionals, this book is the first of its kind, international in scope, and rich in both depth and complexity.

The book is divided into three sections which, in turn, focus upon defining, explaining, and risk managing this increasingly complex global reality. Chapters include detailed case studies, analyses of quantitative data, reflections from attachment theory and psychoanalytic thought, descriptions of law enforcement and protective organization activities, mental health and psychiatric categorizations and understandings, consideration of risk assessment models and variables, victim perspectives, and others.

J. Reid Meloy, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, Lorraine Sheridan, Heriot Watt University, Scotland, and Jens Hoffmann, Researcher, Centre for Forensic Psychology, Team Psychology and Security, University of Darmstadt, Germany

"...a wonderful acquisition for individuals working in forensic and/or correctional environments. The editors and contributors are the movers and shakers in the field, an international collection of social scientists, law enforcement, and legal experts." - Doody's Review

Foreword: Robert Fein and Bryan Vossekuil:
1: J. Reid Meloy, Lorraine Sheridan, Jens Hoffmann: Public Figures Stalking: The State of the Science
Section I: Defining the Risk
2: J. Reid Meloy, Kris Mohandie, Mila Green McGowan: A Forensic Investigation of Those Who Stalk Celebrities
3: Paul E. Mullen, David V. James, J. Reid Meloy, Michele T. Pathe, Frank R. Farnham, Lulu Preston, Brian Darnley: The Role of Psychotic Illness in Attacks on Public Figures
4: Louis B. Schlesinger, V. Blair Mesa: Homicidal Celebrity Stalkers: Dangerous Obsessions with Nonpolitical Public Figures
5: Frederick S. Calhoun, Stephen W. Weston: On Public Figure Howlers
6: Jens Hoffmann, Lorraine Sheridan: Stalking, Threatening and Attacking Corporate Figures
7: James Biesterfeld, J. Reid Meloy: The Public Figure Assassin as Terrorist
Section II: Explaining the Risk
8: Jens Hoffmann, J. Reid Meloy: Contributions from Attachment Theory and Pschoanalysis to Advance Understanding of Public Figure Stalking and Attacking
9: Jens Hoffmann, Lorraine Sheridan: Celebrities as Victims of Stalking
10: Mary Ellen O'Toole, Sharon S. Smith, Robert D. Hare: Psychopathy and Predatory Stalking of Public Figures
11: J. Reid Meloy, Kris Mohandie: Two Case Studies of Corporate-Celebrity Victims: The Stalking of Steven Spielberg and Stephen Wynn
12: John Maltby, David Giles: Toward the Measurement and Profiling of Celebrity Worship
13: Brian H. Spitzberg, William R. Cupach: Fanning the Flames of Fandom: Celebrity Worship, Parasocial Interaction, and Stalking
Section III: Managing the Risk
14: Jeff Dunn: Operations of the LAPD Threat Management Unit
15: P. Randall Kropp, Stephen D. Hart, David R. Lyon: Risk Assessment of Public Figure Stalkers
16: Robert T.M. Phillips: Preventing Assassination: Psychiatric Consultation to the United States Secret Service
17: Karl Roberts: Offender Profiling and Celebrity Stalking Cases
18: Rhonda Saunders, Sean Wainwright: Prosecuting Celebrity Stalkers
19: Mario J. Scalora, William Zimmerman, David G. Wells: Use of Threat Assessment for the Protection of the United States Congress
20: Sharon S. Smith: From Violent Words to Violent Deeds: Assessing Risk from FBI Threating Communication Cases
Index