Study of Stalkers

Paul E. Mullen, M.B.B.S., [Link]., [Link]., Michele Pathé, M.B.B.S., F.R.A.N.Z.C.P.,

Rosemary Purcell, B.A., [Link]., and Geoffrey W. Stuart, B.A., [Link].(Hons.), Ph.D.

Objective: This clinical study was devised to elucidate the behaviors, motivations, and
psychopathology of stalkers. Method: It concerned 145 stalkers referred to a forensic psy-
chiatry center for treatment. Results: Most of the stalkers were men (79%, N=114), and
many were unemployed (39%, N=56); 52% (N=75) had never had an intimate relationship.
Victims included ex-partners (30%, N=44), professional (23%, N=34) or work (11%, N=16)
contacts, and strangers (14%, N=20). Five types of stalkers were recognized: rejected, in-
timacy seeking, incompetent, resentful, and predatory. Delusional disorders were common
(30%, N=43), particularly among intimacy-seeking stalkers, although those with personality
disorders predominated among rejected stalkers. The duration of stalking was from 4
weeks to 20 years (mean=12 months), longer for rejected and intimacy-seeking stalkers.
Sixty-three percent of the stalkers (N=84) made threats, and 36% (N=52) were assaultive.
Threats and property damage were more frequent with resentful stalkers, but rejected and
predatory stalkers committed more assaults. Committing assault was also predicted by
previous convictions, substance-related disorders, and previous threats. Conclusions:
Stalkers have a range of motivations, from reasserting power over a partner who rejected
them to the quest for a loving relationship. Most stalkers are lonely and socially incompe-
tent, but all have the capacity to frighten and distress their victims. Bringing stalking to an
end requires a mixture of appropriate legal sanctions and therapeutic interventions.
(Am J Psychiatry 1999; 156:1244–1249)

S talking refers to a constellation of behaviors involv-

ing repeated and persistent attempts to impose on an-
tional accounts, such as Louisa May Alcott’s aptly ti-
tled A Long Fatal Love Chase (4), in reported legal
other person unwanted communication and/or con- cases such as the 1840 prosecution of Richard Dunn
tact. Communication can be by means of telephone (5), in nineteenth century psychiatric literature in rela-
calls, letters, e-mail, and graffiti, with contact by tion to erotomania (6–8), and more recently in the do-
means of approaching the victim and following and mestic violence literature (9). The media first used
maintaining surveillance. Associated behaviors include “stalking” to describe intrusions on celebrities by fans
ordering goods on the victim’s behalf and initiating with mental disorders, but it was later generalized to
spurious legal actions. Threats, property damage, and cover a range of recurrent harassment behaviors, par-
assault may accompany stalking. Community surveys ticularly in domestic disputes. In 1990, California’s
suggest that 1% to 2% of women report having been anti-stalking law gave stalking an initial legal defini-
subjected to stalking in the previous year, with a life- tion: “willful, malicious and repeated following and
time risk of 2% for men and 8% for women (1–3). harassing of another person” (10). Finally, stalkers and
their victims began to be regarded as constituting
“Stalking” is new terminology, but persistent pursuit
groups worthy of study by behavioral scientists (11–
and intrusion by discarded partners and by would-be
13). In less than a decade, stalking has been established
lovers with disorders have long been discussed in fic-
as a new category of fear, crime, disordered behavior,
Received May 26, 1998; revision received Nov. 23, 1998;
and victimization.
accepted Jan. 4, 1999. From the Victorian Institute of Forensic Men- Stalking, like any complex form of human behavior,
tal Health, Melbourne; the Department of Psychological Medicine, can be the product of a number of different states of
Monash University, Melbourne; and the Department of Psychiatry, mind. Stalking, which is obviously hurtful, is part of a
University of Melbourne. Address reprint requests to Dr. Mullen, spectrum of activities that merge into normal behav-
Forensic Health Administration Bldg., Mont Park Hospital, Waiora
Rd., Macleod 3085, Australia; pmullen@[Link] (e-mail). iors, often around such aspirations as initiating or rees-
Supported by a postgraduate award from the Australian govern- tablishing a relationship. To further complicate defini-
ment to Ms. Purcell. tional issues, central to the construction of stalking—

1244 Am J Psychiatry 156:8, August 1999

 MULLEN, PATHÉ, PURCELL, ET AL.

both as a concept and as an offense—are the victim’s emphasis on the delusional conviction of being loved, advanced by de
perceptions of being harassed and rendered fearful. Clérambault (20), rather than following the far longer tradition of re-
garding erotomania as the morbid exaggeration of love in all its as-
Thus, it is not just the intentions and behavior of the pects (6, 8, 19, 21). In this article, subjects with these morbid infatua-
perpetrator that create a stalking event but how the ac- tions are analyzed both separately and combined with those with
tions are experienced and articulated by the victim. erotomania, who are absolutely convinced that their love is returned.
These complexities have made problematic the genera- Discrete variables were analyzed by means of chi-square analysis.
tion of a useful classification. To best predict the variables associated with patterns of harassment
Meloy and Gothard (11) proposed “obsessional fol- and violence, log-linear modeling was used (22). This method is
equivalent to using analysis of variance when both dependent and
lower” as a clinical corollary of “stalker,” perhaps ap- independent variables are categorical. Within this model, both the
pealing to the Latin derivation from obsessor, one who individual effects of each independent variable (i.e., marginal effects)
abides or haunts (14), although “obsessive pursuer” and the potential confounding between independent variables in the
might have been preferable. Zona and colleagues (15), analysis (i.e., partial effects) were considered. Post hoc analyses of
significant main effects were assessed using log-linear parameters.
on the basis of 74 cases, suggested that stalkers fell into This method of analysis allows for a decomposition of significant
three distinct groups: erotomanic, love obsessional, main effects when an independent variable consists of two or more
and simple obsessional. Harmon et al. (16) developed categories. The effects of individual categories are expressed as z
a classification system using two axes: one, defining scores. Continuous variables were compared among groups by using
the nature of the attachment as either affectionate/am- analysis of variance, with post hoc analyses of group main effects
conducted using Tukey’s honest significant difference. The signifi-
orous or persecutory/angry; the other, defining the pre- cance level was set at 0.05.
vious relationship. A number of other typologies have
been proposed, including a simple dichotomy between
psychotic and nonpsychotic stalkers (17) and those of
RESULTS
de Becker (cited in reference 18), who devised four cat-
egories: attachment seeking, identity seeking, rejection
based, and delusionally based. Demographic Characteristics
A classification of stalkers should provide a guide to
the course and duration of harassment, the risks of es- Our criteria for stalking were met by 145 stalkers, of
calation to assaultive behaviors, and, above all, the whom 115 (79%) were male. Ages ranged from 15 to
most effective strategies for ending the stalking. 75 years, with a median of 38 years. Over half of the
This article provides a description of a group of indi- stalkers (N=75) had never had a long-term relation-
viduals who persistently stalked others and who were ship; another 41 (30%) were currently separated or di-
assessed and, in some cases, treated at a specialized vorced. Unemployed stalkers (39%, N=56) made up a
forensic clinic. substantial proportion of the group, although the ma-
jority (56%, N=82) were employed; six (8%) of these
occupied professional and senior management posi-
METHOD tions, six were students, and one (1%) described her-
self as a housewife. (Data on employment status were
Case materials were gathered between 1993 and 1997 from refer- not available for eight subjects.)
rals to two of the authors (M.P. and P.E.M.) at a forensic psychiatric
clinic with a known interest in both the victims and perpetrators of Duration and Nature of Stalking Behaviors
stalking. The clinic had received extensive and sympathetic coverage
in national and local media, which contributed to high rates of refer- The duration of stalking varied from 4 weeks to 20
ral. Referrals came from throughout the state of Victoria (popula-
tion 4.7 million) from courts, community correction services, police, years (median=12 months). The most common method
and medical practitioners and, in three cases, following self-referral. of communicating was by telephone (78%, N=113),
Stalking was defined as repeated (at least 10 times) and persis- often involving multiple calls, the highest being more
tent (lasting for at least 4 weeks) unwelcome attempts to approach than 200 in 24 hours. Some stalkers revealed a detailed
or communicate with the victim. The behavior was considered un-
welcome on the basis of the feelings of the victim, not the claims of
knowledge of the victim’s movements, tracking them
the perpetrator. Some who were referred after a court conviction by phone to work, to friends’ homes, and to cafes and
for stalking did not meet these criteria and were not included in bars. Letters were sent by 94 (65%), varying from the
this series. occasional note to a daily deluge. Eight notes were at-
Communications were subdivided into those employing telephone tached to the victim’s property, six messages were
calls, mail and facsimile, e-mail, and other, which included graffiti
and notes attached to property. Contact was separated into follow- scrawled on walls, and two were cut into the paint of
ing and maintaining surveillance or approaching the victim. The as- the victim’s car. Two flooded the object of their atten-
sociated behaviors were divided into either giving, or ordering on the tion with e-mail messages.
victim’s behalf, unsolicited goods or initiating spurious legal actions.
The associated violence was grouped under threats, property dam- The stalkers maintained contact by repeated ap-
age, and actual assault—both physical and sexual. proaches in public situations (86%, N=124) and
The psychiatric classification is by DSM-IV criteria. One nosologi- through surveillance and persistent following (73%,
cal difficulty is raised by those who do not believe that their love is re- N=106). Surveillance equipment, such as cameras and
ciprocated but are totally preoccupied and insist, with delusional in-
tensity, on both the legitimacy and the eventual success of their quest
audio transmitters, was resorted to by four stalkers,
(19). This group cannot be encompassed by existing DSM-IV criteria three employed detective agencies, and three persuaded
for delusional disorder of the erotomanic type, which favor exclusive acquaintances to aid in their pursuit. One stalker ob-

Am J Psychiatry 156:8, August 1999 1245

STUDY OF STALKERS

tained a license to operate as a private investigator, and two, major depression; and one, anxiety disorder. The
another hired a helicopter to maintain surveillance. primary diagnosis was personality disorder in 74 men,
Although some stalkers favored one particular form with the majority falling into cluster B. Comorbid sub-
of harassment, only three confined themselves to a sin- stance-related disorders were noted in 36 (25%) of the
gle approach. In 92 cases, between three and five meth- stalkers. There were 59 stalkers with psychosis (delu-
ods were employed, and 16 of the stalkers used seven sional disorders, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder).
different forms of harassment.
Criminal Histories
Associated Behaviors
Fifty-seven (39%) of the individuals had previous
Unsolicited gifts were sent by 69 stalkers (48%), in- criminal convictions; 41 (28%) were for interpersonal
cluding flowers, chocolates, self-help books, and pic- violence and 10 (7%) were for sexual offenses. One
tures of the stalker, but more grotesque offerings in- had a previous stalking conviction.
cluded mutilated photographs of the victim and a dead Motivation and Context
cat. Goods and services were ordered on the victim’s
behalf—the most common being pizza, often delivered On the basis of context and motivation, five groups
in the early hours of the morning—including ambu- were constructed: rejected, intimacy seeking, incompe-
lances, magazine subscriptions, and airplane tickets. tent, resentful, and predatory (table 1).
Spurious legal actions were initiated by 12 stalkers, Stalking was the response of 52 subjects to the rejec-
which included litigation aimed at forcing contact, as tion of a relationship, most frequently involving an ex-
well as accusations of stalking and harassment in- partner (N=41) but also occurring with estrangement
tended to preempt the victim’s pursuit of legitimate le- from the mother (N=2), a broken friendship (N=6),
gal redress. and disrupted work relationships (N=3). Rejected
stalkers often acknowledged a complex mixture of de-
Threats and Violence sire for both reconciliation and revenge. A sense of loss
could be combined with frustration, anger, jealousy,
Threats were made to the victim by 84 (58%) of the
vindictiveness, and sadness in ever-changing propor-
stalkers and to third parties by 56 (39%). Thirty-six
tions. The majority of the rejected stalkers had person-
(25%) threatened only the victim, eight (6%) only
ality disorders, although nine had delusional disorders,
third parties, and 48 (33%) both. Property was dam-
five involving morbid jealousy.
aged by 58 (40%), the most common target being the
Forty-nine stalkers were seeking intimacy with the
victim’s car. Fifty-two (36%) attacked the victim, and
object of their unwanted attention, whom they identi-
nine (6%) assaulted third parties. These attacks were
fied as their true love. Twenty-seven had erotomanic
intended to frighten and physically injure someone in
delusions and believed that their love was recipro-
38 instances but in 14 were primarily sexual assaults.
cated; 20 of these had delusional disorder of the eroto-
The physical injuries were largely confined to bruises
manic type, five had schizophrenia, and two had ma-
and abrasions, but one victim sustained a fractured
nia. The remaining 22 intimacy-seeking stalkers were
jaw and one received stab wounds. The sexual attacks
made up of those we termed to have “morbid infatua-
involved six indecent assaults and eight attempted or
tions” (15), together with those with personality disor-
accomplished rapes.
der (7) who persisted in their pursuit without absolute
Relationship to Victim certainty of eventual success. The central purpose of
the intimacy-seeking stalkers was to establish a rela-
The stalkers were ex-partners in 44 (30%) of the in- tionship, but several were prey to jealousy, and a num-
stances; 34 (23%) had had a professional relationship ber became enraged at their would-be partner’s indif-
with the victim, most often a medical practitioner. Ini- ference to their approaches.
tial contact had been through work-related interaction The 22 we classified as incompetent stalkers ac-
with fellow employees or customers in 16 cases (11%). knowledged that the object of their attention did not
Casual acquaintances made up 28 (19%) of the victims, reciprocate their affection, but they nevertheless hoped
with 20 (14%) having no previous contact with the vic- that their behavior would lead to intimacy. This group
tim. There were three stalkers of celebrities. Twelve included intellectually limited and socially incompe-
women stalked women, and nine men stalked men. tent individuals whose knowledge of courting rituals
was rudimentary, together with men with a sense of en-
Psychiatric Status titlement to a partner but no capacity, or willingness,
to start by establishing some lesser form of social inter-
Sixty-two stalkers had an axis I diagnosis. Forty- action. The incompetent stalkers had often previously
three had delusional disorders, 20 of which were of the stalked others. They regarded their victims as attrac-
erotomanic type; five morbid jealousy; three persecu- tive potential partners, but, unlike those seeking inti-
tory and 15 morbid infatuations categorized as un- macy, they did not endow them with unique qualities,
specified. Fourteen had schizophrenia, five of whom were attracted but not infatuated, and made no claims
had erotomanic delusions; two had bipolar disorder; that their feelings were reciprocated.

1246 Am J Psychiatry 156:8, August 1999

 MULLEN, PATHÉ, PURCELL, ET AL.

TABLE 1. Characteristics of Stalkers and Stalking Behavior

Type of Stalker
Intimacy
Rejected Seeking Incompetent Resentful Predatory
Variable (N=52) (N=49) (N=22) (N=16) (N=6) Analysis
N % N % N % N % N % χ2 df p

Male 44 85 33 69 18 82 13 81 6 100 5.52 4 0.22

Currently partnered 8 16 4 9 3 15 6 37 1 17 7.60 4 0.10
Currently employed 38 76 19 42 11 50 11 69 3 50 12.72 4 0.01
Threatened victim 37 71 24 50 7 32 14 87 2 33 18.39 4 0.001
Assaulted victim 28 54 11 23 6 27 4 25 3 50 12.81 4 0.01
History of substance abuse 15 29 10 20 5 25 5 31 1 17 1.61 4 0.81
Previous criminal convictions 26 51 12 26 7 32 7 43 5 83 11.56 4 0.02

Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD F df p

Age (years) 37.8 11.7 38.2 11.3 33.2 8.0 41.3 11.5 31.6 8.2 1.76 4, 137 0.14
Stalking duration (months) 41.3 48.5 38.9 47.8 16.1 14.9 18.4 18.6 8.5 13.6 3.26 4, 140 0.01
Number of harassment methods 5.0 1.6 3.9 1.6 3.7 1.5 4.2 1.3 2.7 1.0 6.00 4, 140 <0.001

The 16 we termed resentful stalkers stalked to phone (z=–2.87, p<0.01), in contrast with rejected
frighten and distress the victim. Eight pursued a ven- stalkers, who most frequently used this method of ha-
detta against a specific victim, but the remainder had a rassment (z=2.93, p<0.001). Letter writing was also
general sense of grievance and chose victims at random. predicted by both the diagnosis of delusional disorder
Such a stalker persistently pursued a young woman be- (χ2=11.14, df=4, p<0.02) and typology (χ2=9.40, df=4,
cause she appeared, when glimpsed in the street, to be p<0.05), with intimacy-seeking stalkers predominat-
attractive, wealthy, and happy when the stalker had just ing, although neither group’s results remained signifi-
experienced a humiliating professional rejection. An- cant when confounding between the variables was
other man stalked a medical practitioner who he be- considered in the partial analysis. Following and main-
lieved had failed to diagnose his wife’s cervical cancer. taining surveillance were associated with diagnosis
The six predatory stalkers were preparing a sexual at- (χ2=12.16, df=4, p<0.01, partial effect); stalkers with
tack. These men took pleasure in the sense of power personality disorder were twice as likely as other
produced by stalking, and there were elements of getting groups to follow their victims (z=3.30, p<0.001). Un-
to know their victim and rehearsing, in fantasy, their in- wanted approaches and sending unsolicited materials
tended attack. Such stalking could be prolonged before were not significantly associated with either typology
they either attacked or were apprehended. One preda- or diagnosis. When the results were analyzed with ei-
tory stalker sought help after reaching the point of ther morbid infatuation excluded or included in delu-
equipping an isolated house, acquiring ether and ropes, sional disorder, no differences emerged.
and being poised to abduct the victim. Predatory stalk- Stalking duration was related to clinical typology (F=
ers predominantly had paraphilias and were more likely 3.26, df=4, 140, p<0.01). Post hoc analyses demonstrated
than all other diagnostic groups to have previous con- a nonsignificant tendency for rejected stalkers and inti-
victions for sexual offenses (χ2=57.00, df=4, p<0.001). macy-seeking stalkers to be the most persistent (table 1).
Duration was unrelated to diagnostic group or gender.
Predictors of Type and Duration of Stalking
Association With Threats and Violence
The number of harassment methods used varied ac-
cording to the proposed clinical typology (F=5.99, df= Less than half (48%, N=40) of those who threatened
4, 140, p<0.001); rejected stalkers had the widest range their victims proceeded to assault them, but the 77%
of behaviors in comparison with all other groups with (N=40) who assaulted had previously threatened their
the exception of resentful stalkers (table 1). Diagnosis victims (χ2=11.14, df=1, p<0.001). Log-linear model-
was also associated with the number of harassment be- ing was used to predict the relationship between
haviors (F=3.04, df=4, 140, p<0.02), with those with threats and violence and the independent measures of
personality disorder using the most stalking methods. typology, diagnosis, history of substance abuse, and
Log-linear modeling was used to predict whether ty- previous criminal convictions. Threats to the victim
pology and diagnosis were associated with particular were predicted independently by previous convictions
types of harassment. Both diagnosis (χ2=12.61, df=4, (χ2=7.89, df=1, p<0.01), substance abuse (χ2=3.90,
p<0.01) and typology (χ2=15.57, df=4, p<0.01) were df=1, p<0.05), and typology (χ2=9.40, df=4, p<0.05);
independently associated with calling by telephone, al- resentful and rejected stalkers were more likely to
though neither variable remained significant when threaten their victims. When confounding between
confounding between the factors was considered. variables was considered in the partial analyses, how-
Predatory stalkers were the least likely group to tele- ever, only previous convictions remained significant

Am J Psychiatry 156:8, August 1999 1247

STUDY OF STALKERS

(χ2=5.62, df=1, p<0.02), thus accounting for most of during the study period, but only 284 stalkers were con-
the explained variance with threats. Property damage victed (23), and only 145 are included in this report.
was predicted independently by both substance abuse Stalkers come predominantly from the lonely, iso-
(χ2=7.52, df=1, p<0.005) and previous convictions lated, and disadvantaged of our society but can include
(χ 2 =4.70, df=1, p<0.03), although only substance individuals from the whole social spectrum. Similarly,
abuse remained significant when all variables where victims are not selected exclusively from the famous
considered (χ2=5.65, df=1, p<0.02). Assault was pre- but can be almost anyone. One is most likely to be
dicted by previous convictions (χ2=15.61, df=1, p< stalked by an ex-partner, but also at particular risk are
0.001) and substance abuse (χ2=5.04, df=1, p<0.03), those such as psychiatrists, whose profession brings
and there was a nonsignificant trend for typology (χ2= them into contact with isolated and disordered individ-
8.40, df=4, p<0.07). Only previous convictions re- uals, in whom sympathy and attention are easily re-
mained significant, however, when all variables were constructed as romantic interest.
considered (χ2=10.44, df=1, p<0.001). Stalkers were grouped into rejected, intimacy-seek-
Specific diagnoses were not associated with threats or ing, incompetent, resentful, and predatory types. These
violence, but nonpsychotic stalkers were more likely to are not entirely mutually exclusive groupings, and the
commit assaults (43%, N=37) than were psychotic placement of an individual is a matter of judgment.
stalkers (25%, N=15) (χ 2 =4.42, df=1, p<0.05), al- This typology of stalkers overlaps with several pro-
though they were equally likely to threaten their victims. posed previously (15, 16, 18). The incompetent group
is, however, unique, and although it could arguably be
Response to Management Strategies incorporated into the intimacy-seeking group, differ-
ences in the imagined relationship to the victim, the
A full analysis of treatment response is ongoing, but pattern of stalking, and the response to treatment jus-
certain patterns are discernible. Intimacy-seeking stalk- tify its separation. Intimacy-seeking stalkers form a
ers require assertive psychiatric management, particu- spectrum, from those with erotomania to those with
larly because they are largely impervious to judicial morbid infatuations to rigid, obsessive individuals
sanctions, often regarding court appearances—even im- whose attraction to the victim has produced persistent
prisonment—as the price of true love. In contrast, many pursuit. There are different management imperatives
rejected stalkers can be persuaded to desist by fines or in intimacy-seeking stalkers, from the grossly deluded
potential incarceration, although usually not those em- to fixated individuals, but, interestingly, the problems
broiled in child custody disputes or those who are mor- they share of being isolated, lonely, socially inept, and
bidly jealous. Incompetent stalkers abandon the pursuit filled with an inflated sense of entitlement present the
of their current victims with relative ease, but the chal- greatest therapeutic challenge. Rejected stalkers com-
lenge is to prevent them from choosing others. Resentful prise the largest group, formed predominantly, but not
stalkers, who usually evince considerable self-righteous- exclusively, of ex-partners; they overlap with the “sim-
ness, are difficult to engage in treatment, and legal sanc- ple obsessional” grouping of Zona et al. (15) but ex-
tions tend to inflame rather than inhibit their sense of clude those whom we have placed in a separate group
grievance and the associated stalking. Predatory stalk- called resentful stalkers. The predatory stalkers form a
ers, because of the nature of their planned offense, are small group within this series but are important to rec-
primarily a criminal justice problem, but there is a role ognize given their potential for sexual violence. With
for psychiatrists in the treatment of their paraphilias. sexual offenders, some elements of stalking are rela-
With our self-referred potential predator, therapy has to tively common, but the usefulness of treating such indi-
date prevented him from committing a sexual offense viduals as stalkers remains to be investigated. This ty-
and prevented a return to stalking. pology, when combined with diagnosis, provides a
Those with major mental disorders require treat- basis for management decisions and, in combination
ment, but given that delusional disorders predominate with criminal convictions and substance abuse, predicts
in this population, this is no easy matter and requires the likely nature and duration of stalking and the risk
considerable psychotherapeutic skill in addition to of assault. This typology, however, remains a tentative
pharmacotherapy and more general support. Those proposal because it is only with the experience of larger
with personality disorders are a disparate group, but and less selective populations that a reliable classifica-
most can benefit from a combination of support, social tion with robust predictive value can be established.
skills training, and psychotherapy. Diagnostically, stalkers often fit within the spectrum
of those with paranoid disorders. Intimacy-seeking
stalkers include those who have erotomanic delusions,
DISCUSSION both secondary to preexisting psychotic disorders such
as schizophrenia and as part of a delusional disorder.
This study was clinically based, with a study group True delusional disorders, which are common in inti-
skewed to the severe end of the spectrum of harassment macy-seeking stalkers, merge imperceptibly into the
and more likely to contain those with obvious mental overvalued ideas and fanatical obsessiveness of those
disorders. It is probable that in the State of Victoria, sev- with personality disorder, with the boundaries often
eral thousand women and men were victims of stalking uncertain and changing. With rejected stalkers, there is

1248 Am J Psychiatry 156:8, August 1999

 MULLEN, PATHÉ, PURCELL, ET AL.

a spectrum in which the tenacious clinging to a rela- help stalkers and often is the most effective way of lift-
tionship in inadequate individuals merges into the as- ing the burden from their victims.
sertive entitlement of the narcissistic and the persistent
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