Assessing and managing the threat posed by fixated persons in Australia

Pathé, Michele; Lowry, Timothy J.; Haworth, Debbie J.; Webster, D.M.; Mulder, Melodie J.; Winterbourne, Paul; Briggs, Colin J.

doi:10.1080/14789949.2015.1037332

Cited by 29 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The assessment tool used by QFTAC for determining the fixated person's level of concern has been described previously (Pathé et al, ). It is based on a risk aide‐mémoire developed by Scalora, Zimmerman, and Wells () in the United States and subsequently adapted by British FTAC (James, Farnham, & Wilson, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Established in 2013, QFTAC is an integrated, state‐wide intelligence unit staffed by the Security Operations Unit of the Queensland Police Service (QPS) and Queensland Health's Forensic Mental Health Service (QFMHS). QFTAC was modeled on the UK's Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FTAC) and accepts referrals from politicians and their staff predominantly, as well as members of the judiciary (Pathé et al, ).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Public Figure Fixation: Cautionary Findings for Mental Health Practitioners

Pathé

Lowry

Haworth³

et al. 2016

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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Research in western nations has found that pathologically fixated individuals pose a risk of serious harm to public figures, and that many of these fixated persons are mentally ill and require treatment. Over the past decade, integrated fixated threat assessment agencies have been established in western Europe and Australia to specifically assess and manage this group. The current study examines 400 consecutive referrals to a fixated threat assessment center in Queensland, Australia, with a particular focus on the mental health and risk profile of those who engage in inappropriate contact with public office holders. It considers the high proportion of delusional disorders in this cohort, and their identification and management by psychiatric services. The authors conclude with a discussion of the mental health response to this group and impediments to mitigating the risks posed by fixated persons. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Public Figure Fixation: Cautionary Findings for Mental Health Practitioners

Pathé

Lowry

Haworth³

et al. 2016

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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“…Further examinations of this type of offender have more recently been conducted outside of the U.S. (Eke, Meloy, Brooks, Jean, & Hilton, 2014;James et al, 2007;James, Meloy, et al, 2010;Mullen et al, 2009;Pathé et al, 2015;Pathé, Haworth, & Lowry, 2016;van Buuren & de Graaf, 2014). James et al (2007) examined attacks on European politicians between 1990 and 2004, highlighting the high prevalence rates of psychosis.…”

Section: The Fixated and Aggrievedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental Disorders, Personality Traits, and Grievance-Fueled Targeted Violence: The Evidence Base and Implications for Research and Practice

Corner¹,

Gill²,

Schouten

et al. 2018

Journal of Personality Assessment

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This article aims to move away from intuitive appeals that link mental disorder with violence such as terrorism, mass murder, and other targeted violence. The article synthesizes the existing evidence base regarding the relationship between mental disorders and personality traits and (a) attitudinal affinities with violent causes, and (b) a number of violent behaviors (including mass murder and terrorism). The evidence base is mixed and the research focus changed across time: from simple and unempirical assertions of causation to an almost complete rejection of their presence to a finer grained and disaggregated understanding. Empirical research examining mental disorder in crime and violence highlights that the commission of such events is a complex synthesis of psychopathology, personal circumstance, and environment. The article concludes with several suggestions regarding future research and practice.

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“…The Queensland survey led to the establishment of an FTAC in Queensland in 2013 operating under a similar model to the United Kingdom-one with an emphasis on joint work between police and mental health, and a high rate of mental health interventions in those referred. 34 Similarly, in New Zealand, a small pilot service was established in September 2017 with a permanent service following in July 2019. In both these services, referrals are drawn from those who communicate to or intrude upon members of parliament, with a finding of high rate of mental illness among the communicators and threateners, again providing an opportunity for intervention and treatment in these individuals.…”

Section: Establishment Of Ftacs In Other Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fixated Threat Assessment Centers: preventing harm and facilitating care in public figure threat cases and those thought to be at risk of lone-actor grievance-fueled violence

2020

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The rediscovery of the importance of mental illness in the risk assessment and management of those who threaten, approach, and harm public figures has led to a new way of dealing with those that threaten public figures. This approach emphasises the role of “fixation” which may be defined as an intense preoccupation pursued to an abnormally intense degree. It integrates a threat assessment paradigm with the literature on stalking. The need for such an approach was highlighted in research on the prevalence of harassment of public figures. Psychiatry has a key role in this approach which sees mental health clinicians and Police work together in Fixated Threat Assessment Centres (FTACs). An FTAC functions by assessing the level of concern and sharing information to facilitate interventions that are often mental health based. The purpose is not the hopeless task of identifying those who will go on to perpetrate serious violence, rather to intervene in the group they emerge from, to prevent harm. As well as decreasing risk to the persons fixated upon, this approach improves care to the mentally disordered people who harass and threaten them and, in doing so, decreases the likelihood of their criminalization while enhancing their quality of life. As expertise in the area has grown, policing and security agencies in several countries have expanded the FTAC model to cover individuals thought at risk of lone-actor grievance-fueled violence, a term that captures both different forms of mass killing and lone actor terrorism.

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Assessing and managing the threat posed by fixated persons in Australia

Cited by 29 publications

References 20 publications

Public Figure Fixation: Cautionary Findings for Mental Health Practitioners

Public Figure Fixation: Cautionary Findings for Mental Health Practitioners

Mental Disorders, Personality Traits, and Grievance-Fueled Targeted Violence: The Evidence Base and Implications for Research and Practice

Fixated Threat Assessment Centers: preventing harm and facilitating care in public figure threat cases and those thought to be at risk of lone-actor grievance-fueled violence

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