Howlers and Hunters: Fredrick Calhoun/Stephen Weston Flashcards
Hunters and Howlers
Threats and Violence Against Federal Judicial Officials in the United States, 1789-1993
Frederick S, Calhoun
Impersonal Hunters
seek to gain some kind of attention to themselves or they seek a reaction from their target
Personal Howlers
seek to control or intimidate their targets. They use threats, confrontations, gestures, messages, symbolic acts, and loaded references as a way of getting the target to do what they want
Sinister Howlers
use threats, intimidation and ominous communication as psychological warfare against their targets
Binder Howlers
express their infatuations and obsessions toward their target
Hunters
Hunt
Howlers
rarely hunt
Sinister Howlers
communicate their anger in schools, on the job, and against public figures
Binder Howlers
delude themselves into believing they have or should have some emotional attachment to a school-or workmate or a public figure
Cross -venue nature of both hunters and howlers
strongly suggest that neither the target nor the setting defines who hunts and who howls
Watch & Wait
means unobtrusively monitoring the subject while waiting to see whether he or she will take additional actions in relation to the target
Third Party Control or Monitoring
requires identifying a reliable third party
Subject interview to gather information
seek to gain as much information as possible from the subject
Subject interview to refocus or assist
entails using a personal interview with the subject to explore ways the threat manager can help the subject resolve his or her problem
Subject interview to warn or confront the subject
is the most confrontational and of the interview approach
Civil Process
cease and desist, stay away order, protective order
Administrative orders or actions
used by organizations to discipline those within the company structure
Mental Health Commitment
can be used with subjects who display signs of mental illness and engage in dangerous behaviors
Arrest and Prosecution
can be used only when the subject as actually committed a crime
Informants
the first assessment to be made is the informant’s credibility
Hunters
usually show themselves by conducting research or engaging in surveillance or confiding their plans to someone or worse yet at the moment they breach security, by attacking
Howlers
reveal their hand by expressing themselves to their target or to others
Hunters
hunters who suddenly start howling no longer qualify as hunters
Fundamental question the threat manager should ask
is whether the subject is acting like a hunter or acting like a howler
Hunting
involves a process of incremental attack related behaviors
Hunters
Do not suddenly turn to violence Their behavior can be motivated by intense strongly held emotions, but their attacks are not spur- of-the moment actions
Anatomy of a Hunter
Bart Ross cancer patient, he blamed the hospital
Anatomy of a Howler
RF, a federal prisoner
Hunter or Howler
Calhoun concluded that the method of delivery used by the subject when communicating with federal judicial officials served as strong indicator of whether the subject is a hunter or a howler
Sinister Howlers
frequently make direct, detailed threats. they offer elaborate descriptions of the death or injury that will befall their targets
Personal Howlers
do not fear the consequences of their sinister communications because they know their targets and thus, have confidence in predicting the target’s reactions
Grievance
is the motive or reason compelling the hunter to act
Ideation
which require actually settling upon the idea that violence is justified or necessary
Research and Planning
means going beyond the idea to actually figuring out how to consummate the violence
Preparation
Involves obtaining the necessary equipment such as weapons of choice and takin any other actions requires to initiate the plan
Breach
entails initiating the plan by circumventing the targets security
Attack
is the actual physical assaults’
Deitz
Found, hunters behaviors are observable if the threat manager know what to look for.
Impersonal Howlers
do not know their targets
Personal Sinister Howlers
Controller Howlers- use threats and inappropriate communications to control the behavior of their targets, usually a spouse, domestic partner or a family member
Intimidator Howlers - use threats and inappropriate communications to intimidate their targets, typically a supervisor, coworker, teacher, classmate or others within their social group
Dirty Trickster - Howlers - wants the target to think an innocent 3rd party made the threat in order to cause problems for the 3rd party
Personal Binding Howlers
Seekers - try to establish an intimate relationship with their targets despite the targets continued rejection of the seekers attention
Maintainers- insistently try to reestablish a former intimate relationship with their target, but the target wants to end the relationship
Deluded binder - suffer from a delusion that they had a should have an intimate relationship with the target
Personal Binders
do not intend violence against their targets as long as they remain convinced they have a chance to establish or maintain a personal relationship with the target
Seeker Binders
usually become infatuated with a with a fellow student, coworker, neighbor, or relative and persistently try to initiate a closer relationship with the individual
Seekers
frequently confuse themselves with suitors
Deluded Personal Howlers
suffer from a psychological delusion that they have or should have a closer personal relationship with the target than they actually have
Impersonally Sinister Howlers
are howlers who do know their targets but communicate with them in sinister or ominous ways can be grouped into six categories
Impersonally Sinister Howlers
Self-defender Howlers - feel a target or an organization has attacked them and they need to defend themselves
Celebrity seeking Howlers - direct their threats and inappropriate communications to public figures or other celebrities precisely because of the targets public status
Habitual howlers - like to make threats as a hobby
Crusader Howlers- use threats to advance some personal cause
Copycat Howlers -are inspired to make threats and inappropriate communications by news reports of acts of violence or threatened acts of violence
Delusional Howlers- suffer a mental delusion compelling them to threaten their target
Callow Binders
simply do not realize how inappropriate their communications with the target are
Relationship Binders
draw great satisfaction simply from communicating with the target. Binders are happy with long distance communication because it gives them a connection to their target
What Howlers Want
Use their communication to cause a reaction. Sinister Howlers seek fearful reactions from their targets
Celebrity Howlers
unlike celebrity hunters, celebrity howlers did not change their method of communicating. Rather, they used their letters to express their intimate fantasies
Intimacy effect
the value of threats as pre-incident indicators of violence increased in proportion to the degree of intimacy between the subject and the target
Violence against Public Figures
Public figures are attacked without first being threatened in most cases studied
There is little motivation to threaten a public figure if violence is the desired outcome
Consequently, the research shows that threats are not good pre-incident indicators for violence against public figures
Violence against Workplace Colleagues
Threats are more prevalent among coworkers than from other sources in the workplace
Most threat assessment professionals believe that threats among coworkers are important in determining level of danger
Violence against School Officials and Students
Threats of violence in the school venue may more likely be in the form of leakage
Researchers are conflicted about how important threats are in the assessment of potential violence in the school venue
Violence against Domestic Intimates
Threats of violence are common among intimate partners
Female intimate partners are less likely to threaten prior to violent attack
Working with the Hunters and Howlers Concepts
James Kopp is a crusade Hunter (he killed Dr. Bernard Slepian because he conducted an abortion
Mark Chappman is a celebrity seeking hunter ( he killed John Lennon)
Jack McKnight is a self defending hunter ( killed at the federal court)
Dennis Rader aka BTK serial killer was a habitual hunter
Hunters and Howlers—The difference
The hunters hunt and rarely howl; the howlers howl and only rarely hunt.
INAPPROPRIATE COMMUNICATIONS
Many communications do not make explicit threats, but are nonetheless cause for concern. Report any communication that meets any single one of the following tests:
THREATS
Report all threats of harm to the judicial Official or any other person received in writing, by telephone, through an informant, or verbally
Nature of American Assassinations
First, the more powerful and prestigious the office, the greater the likelihood of assassinalion. Second, there is much greater likelihood that the occupant of or aspirant to an elected public olflce will he the victim of an assassination than will the occupant of an appointed position, even though the position may be a powerful one.
Clarke’s greatest contribution to assassination theory is the suggestion that irrational acts need not be driven by irrational motives.
Of Clarke’s four categories, all but the psyehotic assassins are understandable in simple. layman’s terms.
Park Dietz
Dietz found that “there was no association between threatening and approaching.”
Dietz’s Risk-Enhancing and Risk-Reducing Factors for Hollywood Celebrities
Risk-Enhancing Factors
Writing ten to fourteen letters to the celebrity
Corresponding for one year or longer Expressing a desire to meet the celebrity faceto-face
Specifying a time that something would happen to the celebrity
Mentioning repeatedly entertainment products Making telephone calls as well as writing letters Mailing letters from two or more geographically different locations
Risk-Reducing
Using tablet-like paper
Providing a complete return address Declaring a desire to marry, have sex with, or have children with the celebrity
Repeatedly mentioning other public figures Mentioning any sexual activity
