Characteristics of the stalking campaign: Consequences and coping strategies for men and women that report their victimization to police

Abstract

The study analysed cases reported to police by men and women who were victims of stalking. The objective was to describe the characteristics of the stalking campaigns experienced by men and women, their consequences, and the coping strategies adopted by the victims, as they are recorded in police case files. All the information was collected in three cities in the Northwest of Italy. Analyses were performed on 271 files classified by police officers as cases of stalking, reported by men (87, 32.1%) and women (184, 67.9%). The study revealed that men tended to let the stalking campaign last for a longer time than women before turning to the police. Procrastination had some consequences, especially in the emotional sphere, that affected the victim's wellbeing. Moreover, the coping strategies used by men victims were not effective and even risked to hamper the work of the police officers intervening and investigating on the case.

Cognitive mechanisms in a sample of detained stalkers: Evaluation of dissociative tendencies, impaired reflective function, and ruminative thought.

“…These individuals constantly think and rethink about their desired object, fantasizing about it, imagining a gratifying link with it (Senkans et al, 2016). In addition to this element, we also find a codependence experience, in which the victim is perceived as an extension of himself, part of himself, and this causes the stalker to worry only about his needs and not those of his object, so damage it significantly (Acquadro Maran et al, 2020).…”

“…Distorted thinking in stalkers is configured as an obsessive rumination of a sentimental type, which focuses on the victim, who becomes the persistent thought and which pervades the entire existence of the harasser. The stalker’s chain of thoughts and actions is driven by the desire and the objective to establish or re-establish contact or a relationship with the victim; this thought becomes obsessive, to the point that one’s personal worth and happiness depends on the achievement of this purpose and on the extreme and distorted importance attached to it (Acquadro Maran et al, 2020; McEwan et al, 2012; Thompson et al, 2020). Unlike other people, who, after being rejected by someone, interrupt their courtship and contact-seeking behaviors by orienting themselves toward someone else, the stalker, instead of abandoning and resigning himself, intensifies his research and projects even more, thus posing the basis for harassing and insistent behavior.…”

The Wheel of Change Moves On: Assessing the Severity of Stalking Behavior

“…Mullen et al (2009) aver that it is the persistence and the potential harms that indicate the level of severity, whereas Purcell et al (2004) suggest there is an approximately two-week threshold which indicates the point at which harassment turns to a more persistent pattern of behavior which becomes stalking. Police and prosecution agencies usually determine the severity of stalking by how "physical" behaviors are (Lynch, 2015), while ignoring the severity of the psychological impacts on the victims (Acquadro Maran et al, 2020;Kamphuis et al, 2003). This creates a conundrum because physical assault is rarely seen as a stalking behavior given that stalking is considered a crime of surveillance (McEwan et al, 2012;Rosenfeld, 2004) and surveillance-oriented stalking behaviors are more likely to be reported (Chan & Sheridan, 2019).…”

Stalking of professionals: A scoping review.

“…Although the identified prevalence or incidence of stalking can be different depending on the definition used, epidemiological studies indicate that stalking victimization is common, affecting at least 15% of adults during their lifetime (McEwan & Pathé, 2013), with the majority of victims being women (Acquadro Maran et al, 2020; Purcell, Pathé, et al, 2005; Sheridan et al, 2002). Spitzberg et al (2010) meta-analysis of 97 studies concluded that 29% of women experience stalking at some point in their lives, while the same was true for 14% of men.…”