Predictors of varying levels of risks posed by fixated individuals to British public figures

Paul Gill*, Emily Corner, Frank Farnham, Simon Wilson, Zoe Marchment, Alice Taylor, Richard Taylor, David James

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    2 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Concerning approaches and communications to the Royal Family and other British public figures are relatively numerous. This paper examines over 2000 such cases logged over a three-year period in the United Kingdom. Using police and health data, the paper conducts a series of bivariate and multivariate analyses to demonstrate the predictors of what types of risk are posed by an individual case (e.g., communicate only, approach, security breach). The results showed that (a) the rates of serious mental disorders are higher among this sample than the general population base rate, (b) approachers were significantly more likely than communicators to suffer from serious mental disorders, (c) approachers were significantly more likely than communicators to have a history of substance use and abuse problems, (d) approachers were significantly more likely than communicators to have a history of violent behavior against property and persons, and (e) the motivations of approachers and communicators significantly differ. The paper concludes with a consideration of the implications for threat assessment and management.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1364-1376
    Number of pages13
    JournalJournal of Forensic Sciences
    Volume66
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Jul 2021

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Predictors of varying levels of risks posed by fixated individuals to British public figures'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this