Transcript Stalking - Threat Assessment

Association of Threat
Assessment Professionals
(ATAP)
Great Plains Chapter
April 16, 2010
Lincoln, Nebraska
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Stalking: Not
Just a Secret
Admirer
Gary Plank
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Stalk
To pursue quarry
or prey stealthily
(Merriam Webster’s New Collage Dictionary)
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Stalk
To hover over
(Funk & Wagnall’s Standard Desk Dictionary, 1979)
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Stalking
“the willful, malicious, and repeated
following and harassing of another person
that threatens his or her safety”
(Meloy & Gothard, 1995, p. 258)
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Stalking
An unwanted repeated course of conduct
which infringes on the privacy of the
victim.
(Plank, 2010)
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Myths About Stalkers Are
Perpetuated by Hollywood
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The Graduate
Flash Dance
Heartbreak Kid
“10”
Tootsie
Indecent Proposal
Pretty Woman
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Where’s Julie
Play Misty for Me
The Crush
Single White
Female
• Misery
• Devil in the Flesh
• Swimfan
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Male Stalkers are
often portrayed
as “getting the
girl”.
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The Movie “Standard”
When Men Stalk Women They
Live “Happily Ever After.”
When Women Stalk Men It Is
Criminal and Dangerous (Fatal
Attraction - “Bunny-Boiler” ).
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Persistence only
proves
persistence, it
does not prove
love.
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Stalking Typologies
• Simple Obsessional
• Love Obsessional
• Erotomania
• False Victimization
(Zona, Sharma, & Lane, 1993)
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Madonna Stalked By Hoskins
Madonna (AP)
Madonna was
stalked by
Hoskins who
was a
delusional
stalker
Robert Dewey Hoskins (AP)
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The typology of the
stalker is defined by
what the relationship
is/was between the
suspect and the victim.
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Simple Obsessional
(47%)
Stalker, usually male, knows victim as
an ex-spouse, ex-lover, or former
boss, who they attempt to establish a
relationship with and when rebuffed
begin a campaign of harassment.
(Zona, Sharma, & Lane, 1993)
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Love Obsessional
(43%)
Stalker is a stranger to the victim but
is obsessed with the victim and when
rejected (real or perceived) mounts a
campaign of harassment to make the
victim aware of the stalker’s feelings.
(Zona, Sharma, & Lane, 1993)
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Erotomania (9.5%)
Stalker, usually female, falsely
believes that the victim, usually
someone famous or wealth, is in
love with them. The target is
usually unobtainable by the
suspect.
(Zona, Sharma, & Lane, 1993)
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False Victimization
The conscious or unconscious
desire of a victim to get the
attention of another by
reporting they are the victim of
a stalker.
(Zona, Sharma, & Lane, 1993)
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FBI Stalking Typologies
• Non-domestic
• Domestic
• Delusional
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Stalking Behavior
Continuum
Non-delusional -------Delusional
(Historic Relationship
between stalker and
target)
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(Relationship exists
only in the mind
of the stalker)
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Non-domestic
Stalker is a stranger to the
victim but is obsessed with the
victim
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Non-domestic
(Love Obsessional)
Sometimes called the Nuisance
Offender
Nuisance – a course of action that
interferes with the legal rights of
others by causing damage, annoyance
or inconvenience.
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Non-domestic Stalker
Characteristics
• No relationship
• Identity unknown to target
• Hang-up, obscene, or harassing calls
• Unsigned letters or other
communications
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Non-domestic Stalker
Characteristics
• May place self in position for casual
contact
• Communications progress from
adoration to protestations of love,
to annoyance at lack of contact , to
threatening and menacing.
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Domestic
Stalker, usually a male, knows the
victim due to a former relationship
such as an ex-spouse, girlfriend,
or former boss
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Domestic Stalker
(Simple Obsessional)
Familial or common-law
relationship - initial motivation to
continue or re-establish
relationship
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Domestic Stalker
Characteristics
• Stalker’s attitude may become “If I
can’t have you – no one can”
• History of prior abuse in
relationship
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Delusional Stalker
(Erotomanic)
False belief that the victim
shares the stalker’s feelings and
desire for a relationship.
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Delusional Stalker
Characteristics
• Relationship based on stalker’s
psychological fixation
• Based on idealized love or spiritual
union rather than sexual attraction
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Target is usually a
person with high
visibility and a higher
status.
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Delusional Stalker
Characteristics
• May begin as “fan mail”
• With passage of time activity
becomes more intense
• Fantasy may not be realized and
stalker commits suicide
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The danger period for an
Erotomanic (delusional) is
when they are falling out of
love with one victim and in
love with another victim.
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Males act out on
fantasy with
greater force than
females.
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Do NOT Negotiate with
Stalkers
Negotiations are about
possibilities
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Conditional rejections are not
rejections they are discussions
• “I don’t want to be in a relationship right
now.”
-Discussion• “I don’t want to be in a relationship with you.”
-RejectionAll Rights Reserved
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The way to stop contact is to
Contact!
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Stalking is a way
someone can assume
power when they are
otherwise powerless
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Pre-stalking
Behavior
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The Domestic or Simple
Obsessional pre-stalker while
with partner needs to:
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Control
Dominate
Remove partner’s control
Remove partner’s support system
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Lecturing to a
spouse is a
characteristic of
a
pre-stalker
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The Domestic Pre- Stalker
may make partner:
• Quit work
• Stop seeing friends
• Stop contact with any outside influence
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Simple Obsessional
Often have been in an
abusive relationship as the
abuser
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Campaign of Harassment
Stalker is letting the victim know
they can still control some aspect
of the victim’s life
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Domestic Stalking Statistic
Victims who leave a battering
relationship have a 75% higher
chance of being killed by their
abuser. Stalking usually precedes
the homicide.
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