In love with criminals – “Even the Graz amok driver got a lot of love letters”

“crown”:A prison guard from Styria lost her heart to a prisoner – the “Krone” brought the matter to light. As a psychiatrist, are you aware of this phenomenon that women like criminals?
Manfred Walz: In professional jargon one generally speaks of ‘hybristophilia’: those affected, usually women, are attracted to criminals such as murderers, sex offenders and violent offenders. These women often feel lonely and have a sense of inferiority.

Does the mind completely shut down?
Where love falls, reality has lost ground. For example, the Graz runaway driver Alen R. has received countless love letters, just like Josef Fritzl. That’s a charm of this sexual disorder that just can’t be explained. His existence as a criminal, the danger, which fades.

How does this attraction manifest itself?
In love, he is the big man in a negative sense. The man who dares, the supergangster. A purely emotional decision encapsulated by reason.

Shouldn’t prison guards know better?
Prison guards, like all women, are not computers. There is a germ in all of us, some kind of predatory behavior that begins. The criminal is seen as something special. It has to do with sexual motives, emotional ties. There is a sympathy that cannot be measured.

Does this also happen to men? Do they also fall in love with criminal women?
In men, a high percentage of this occurs sexually. In women, the heart plays a role.

What needs to be done to make her come to terms?
There must be a combination of weighty circumstances. Personal attacks, violence against them. Her world view, her dream image of this man, must be seriously shaken. But that takes time.

Is there any therapy?
Insight must first be obtained. This is an incredibly difficult situation for those affected. She is actually a manipulated victim. And, as I said, she has to come to an agreement first.