Stalker Typologies: Implications for Law Enforcement

Key questions to consider in stalking cases

“…Some stalkers may appear or approach their victims regularly (e.g., on the victim's daily route to work). Others, particularly stalkers with an obvious mental illness, will appear in diverse places at unpredictable times (Sheridan & Boon, 2002). The research shows that those stalkers who visit the victim's home, workplace, or other places frequented by the victim more than three times a week are those who are most likely to attack.…”

“…This is, of course, pure speculation. Sheridan and Boon (2002) had previously suggested that high levels of collusion are most frequently observed in ex‐intimate cases. In relation to severe violence, the current work suggests a broader effect across all prior relationship categories, as three of the 11 key questions concerned third parties (the stalker persuading others to help him or her, either wittingly or unwittingly; the stalker harassing third parties close to the victim; and the stalker attacking said third parties).…”

The Influence of Prior Relationship, Gender, and Fear on the Consequences of Stalking Victimization

“…If the victim wants to avoid the stalker, then s/he must avoid mutual friends, in-laws and physical locations they frequented as a couple. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that ex-intimate stalking cases often involve many persons and high levels of partisanship and conflict are seen on both sides, leading to a loss of social contacts (Sheridan and Boon 2002). Conceptually, effects on victims' social lives are intertwined with psychological costs; victims often cope by restricting places they go and people they see.…”

“…However, women are also more likely than men to be to be stalked by a relational partner (Budd and Mattinson 2000;Tjaden and Thoennes 2000). The nature of the relationship between stalker and victim is an important factor in constructing typologies of stalkers (see Sheridan and Boon 2002) and in predicting violence risk. It is known that situations where the stalker is a current or ex-relationship partner (relational stalking) represent the most frequent type of stalking (Bjerregaard 2000;Spitzberg 2002;Tjaden and Thoennes 2000).…”

Psychopathy in a Mixed Gender Sample of Adult Stalkers

“…I wanted her to say, ‘Okay, I’m coming back.’ I felt I had no control over her and I didn’t know what to do.” The first subject conveys, quite simply, delight at the distress of another person; the second subject conveys a desperate desire for reunification, and, perhaps, a preoccupied style of attachment. Although Sheridan and Boon (19) did not include a measure of psychopathy in their stalking research, in light of the empirical relationship between psychopathy and sadism (20,21), the nearly 13% of stalkers who comprised their “Sadistic Stalking” category may have also been psychopaths. Likewise, Mullen et al.…”