The efficacy of treatment for stalkers might depend on identifying peculiarities in the life stories of members of this population and their specific needs. We interviewed 14 Italian male stalkers between 27 and 78 years old ( M = 44.5 years) detained in two northwest Italian correctional facilities. We aimed to investigate two main aspects: First, we evaluated the subjects’ states of mind (SoMs) with respect to early attachment using the Adult Attachment Interview. Second, we assessed the possible recurrence of narrative clusters between the narratives of these offenders, whom we also interviewed about their persecutory acts, using the Index Offense Interview. The results indicated that the vast majority of the stalkers in our sample had a dismissing SoM with respect to their early attachment, as well as many unresolved traumas. Furthermore, by comparing their narratives, we outlined six narrative themes: (a) the perception of rejection as a main motivational factor, (b) the representation of the self as right and as a victim of others’ behaviors, (c) a lack of impulse control, (d) the idealization of attachment figures, (e) intense separation anxiety, and (f) a personal theory about stalking. Given this population’s high recurrence rates following detention, the study of which adult attachment representations are linked with the stalking phenomenon and which critical themes are present in stalkers’ narratives may improve clinical interventions for this specific population.

In the last decade, there has been an increase in scientific, forensic, and social interest around the issue of stalking. Several studies have focused on the behavior of the stalker and the dynamics implemented, identifying a problem related to "rumination" or repeated sequences of obsessive ideas and thoughts with related impulsive and compulsive behavior. Unfortunately, an impaired reflective function (RF) associated with ruminative distortion is relatively underinvestigated in its possible link to stalking conduct. The aims of the present research are: (a) to investigate whether dissociative tendencies are present in our sample when they stalked the victim; (b) to assess the quality of their RF in relation to their early attachment and their crime narrations; and (c) to describe the quality of the stalkers' mental process. We administered a structured questionnaire, the Dissociative Experiences Scale-II (DES-II), and two interviews, the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and the Index Offence Interview (IOI), to a sample of 14 male stalkers detained in two northwest Italian correctional facilities. The interviews were then evaluated using the Reflective Functioning Scale (RFS), a measure of the subject's ability to infer mental states in self and others and analyzed through the Interpretative Phenomenological Analyses (IPA). The DES-II average score (M = 12.03; SD = 8.98) did not differ from the mean of the general population found in scientific literature, whereas AAI and IOI RFS scores ranged, respectively, from 1 to 3 and −1 to 3. Stalkers in our sample showed a significantly lower RF score in the narratives related to the crime (M = 1.1; SD = 1.66), compared to the RF of the AAI (M = 2.4; SD = 0.65). From the AAI and the IOI emerged a difficulty in connecting mental status and behaviors and a ruminative thinking, with a recurrent sense of injustice, a distorted mental process and a little or no awareness of their own and others' mental states. The rehabilitation of mentalizing capacity should be considered as a priority among these subjects, to further strengthen a reflective attitude and to make them more responsible for their own behavior. Clinical implications and intervention procedures were discussed.