Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law

Some vignette research into community perceptions

has found that strangers are more likely to be perceived

as stalkers, whereas other research has discovered that

ex-partners are more likely to be identified as stalkers.

Research has demonstrated that community members

are more likely to perceive a situation as stalking when

the stalker intends to harm or invoke fear in the victim.

Also, when stalkers relentlessly engage in behaviors

against their victims, the situation is more likely to be

construed as stalking. Unless a low level of repetitive

behavior is engaged in, intent to harm the victim is not

an important requirement for behaviors to be classified

as stalking. Some research has also identified that

women are more likely to label certain behaviors as

stalking and be more frightened than men who judge

the same behaviors. The research reveals that men and

women may seek legal assistance under different

circumstances.

Risk Factors for Stalking

In addition to research on the characteristics of stalkers

and stalking victims, another important area of research

has been the examination of factors that increase the

likelihood that a person will engage in stalking. Stalking

is more likely to occur if there has been a previous inti-

mate relationship between the victim and the stalker.

Certain psychological and social traits of the stalker can

also increase the likelihood that the person will stalk,

such as having a personality disorder or possessing few

social contacts. Such contacts can have an impact on the

cessation of stalking as these social contacts can convey

disapproval of the stalker’s actions to the stalker, which

may influence his future decisions to stalk. It is impor-

tant for researchers to continue to investigate the factors

that influence stalkers to persist in pursuing their vic-

tims, as these influencing factors might be altered to

reduce the prevalence of stalking.

Violence as an Outcome of Stalking

In some cases, stalkers may escalate to violence against

their victims. This violence can have a great impact on

the victim and can lead to permanent damage or even

death. Some research indicates that stalkers who esca-

late to violent acts have previous criminal convictions,

whereas other research has revealed that having a pre-

vious criminal history has no relationship with engag-

ing in stalking behaviors. There are some risk factors,

however, that appear to consistently indicate that vio-

lence may be a likely outcome. Threats appear to be a

precursor to violence in some cases. Some mental ill-

nesses may also lend a person to engaging in violent

stalking behaviors, although a psychotic stalker is less

likely to engage in violence than a nonpsychotic stalker.

The prior relationship between the stalker and the vic-

tim can also have an impact on the risk of stalking vio-

lence. The presence of a previous intimate relationship

is more likely to lead to violence being committed

against the victim compared with when the victim is a

stranger to the stalker. If the victim’s partner had

engaged in substance abuse, this could also likely lead

to violence. There needs to be more research conducted

in this area to determine what risk factors are the most

predictive of a stalker becoming violent.

Treatment of Stalkers

Further research is also required to determine the

effectiveness of different methods of mental health

treatment for stalkers. It must be noted that there is no

treatment regime specifically for stalking, as stalking

can be related to a number of mental disorders but

itself is not a disorder. Furthermore, not all stalking is

related to mental health problems. Thus, it may be dif-

ficult to determine the most effective type of treatment

or management for stalkers. Despite these issues,

some treatment methods have been found to be effec-

tive, such as attempting to rectify the disorder under-

lying the stalking behaviors or concentrating on the

behaviors themselves. The victim may also undertake

actions, such as legal measures, to attempt to arrest

the stalking behaviors.

Nicola Cheyne and Susan Dennison

See alsoIntimate Partner Violence; Public Opinion About

Crime; Risk Assessment Approaches; Violence Risk

Assessment

Further Readings

Dennison, S. M., & Thomson, D. M. (2005).

Criticisms and plaudits for stalking laws? What

psycholegal research tells us about proscribing

stalking. Psychology, Public Policy and Law,

11 (3), 384–406.

Rosenfeld, B. (2004). Violence risk factors in stalking and

obsessional harassment: A review and preliminary meta-

analysis. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 31(1), 9–36.

Spitzberg, B. H., & Cupach, W. R. (2007). The state of the

art of stalking: Taking stock of the emerging literature.

Aggression and Violent Behavior, 12(1), 64–86.

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