TY - JOUR
T1 - A comparison of email versus letter threat contacts toward members of the United States Congress
AU - Schoeneman-Morris, Katherine A.
AU - Scalora, Mario J.
AU - Chang, Grace H.
AU - Zimmerman, William J.
AU - Garner, Yancey
PY - 2007/9
Y1 - 2007/9
N2 - To better understand inappropriate correspondence sent to public officials, 301 letter cases and 99 email cases were randomly selected from the United States Capitol Police investigative case files and compared. Results indicate that letter writers were significantly more likely than emailers to exhibit indicators of serious mental illness (SMI), engage in target dispersion, use multiple methods of contact, and make a problematic approach toward their target. Emailers were significantly more likely than letter writers to focus on government concerns, use obscene language, and display disorganization in their writing. Also, letter writers tended to be significantly older, have more criminal history, and write longer communications. A multivariate model found that disorganization, SMI symptoms, problematic physical approach, and target dispersion significantly differentiated between the correspondence groups. The group differences illuminated by this study reveal that letter writers are engaging in behavior that is higher risk for problematic approach than are emailers.
AB - To better understand inappropriate correspondence sent to public officials, 301 letter cases and 99 email cases were randomly selected from the United States Capitol Police investigative case files and compared. Results indicate that letter writers were significantly more likely than emailers to exhibit indicators of serious mental illness (SMI), engage in target dispersion, use multiple methods of contact, and make a problematic approach toward their target. Emailers were significantly more likely than letter writers to focus on government concerns, use obscene language, and display disorganization in their writing. Also, letter writers tended to be significantly older, have more criminal history, and write longer communications. A multivariate model found that disorganization, SMI symptoms, problematic physical approach, and target dispersion significantly differentiated between the correspondence groups. The group differences illuminated by this study reveal that letter writers are engaging in behavior that is higher risk for problematic approach than are emailers.
KW - Email
KW - Forensic science
KW - Government official
KW - Problematic approach
KW - Risk assessment
KW - Targeted violence
KW - Threat assessment
KW - Threat management
KW - Threats
KW - Written communication
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2007.00538.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2007.00538.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 17767659
AN - SCOPUS:34548304972
SN - 0022-1198
VL - 52
SP - 1142
EP - 1147
JO - Journal of Forensic Sciences
JF - Journal of Forensic Sciences
IS - 5
ER -