Stalking

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Stalking

Stalking is a legal term for repeated harassment or other forms of invasion of a person's privacy in a manner that causes fear to its target. Statutes vary between jurisdiction but may include such acts as:

repeated following;
unwanted contact (by letter or other means of communication);
observing a person's actions closely for an extended period of time; or
contacting family members, friends, or associates of a target inappropriately;

Motives

Many stalking cases come out of previous relationships, and are conducted by people who are otherwise considered "normal". A sizable minority of stalking cases, typically the more severe and lengthy ones, are sometimes done out of a pathological obsession or derangement. Stalking is often a form of psychological abuse.

Stalking may involve the intent to acquire private information or objects. Common victims of stalking include:

ex-husbands/wives
ex-boyfriends/girlfriends (somebody stalking an ex-lover whom they want back, or even a present lover of an ex-lover, or other cases of unrequited love)
people in highly visible or social professions, such as teachers, counsellors, doctors and celebrities (a fan stalking a celebrity, or public figure)
prominent dissidents, political or otherwise
whistleblowers, activists, revenge for hire

According to the National Center For The Victims Of Crime, 1 out of every 12 women will be stalked during her lifetime. 1 out of 45 men will be stalked during his lifetime. Over one million women and nearly 380,000 men are stalked annually. Exactly like any other crime or clinical disorder, stalking exists on a continuum of severity. The stalking may be so subtle that the victim may not even aware that it is happening, or the perpetrator may have no malicious intent. They may even have a sincere belief that the victim would like them, or have a desire to help the victim. Most cases of stalking do not ever rise to extreme levels of violence or harassment. ^*

Many other stalking cases are not sexually motivated at all. It must be recalled that the essence of stalking is, besides as a means to obtain private information about someone else, sometimes a way of inflicting menace. This is a tactic commonly employed by underworld organisations against their enemies, and many unscrupulous debt-collection agencies employ underworld-associated people to use this capability to their advantage, often victimizing the innocent .

Governments, particularly authoritarian ones, can also employ stalking as an obvious form of surveillance against criminals and people whom they perceive as enemies of the state. This tactic is often abused to repress dissent and opposition. It is not uncommon for the secret police to have an informant or a number of informants follow suspected dissidents and report on their activities. (See also police state.)

Psychology

Psychologists tend to group stalkers into two categories: psychotic and nonpsychotic. Many stalkers have pre-existing psychotic disorders such as delusional disorder, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophrenia. Most stalkers are nonpsychotic and exhibit disorders such as major depression, adjustment disorder, or substance dependence, as well as a variety of Axis II personality disorders, such as antisocial, avoidant, borderline, dependent, narcissistic, or paranoid. The nonpsychotic stalkers' pursuit of victims can be influenced by various psychological factors, including anger and hostility, projection of blame, obsession, dependency, minimization and denial, and jealousy. ^*

In "A Study of Stalkers," Mullen et al (2000) ^* identify six types of stalkers:

Rejected stalkers: pursue their victims in order to reverse, correct or avenge a rejection (e.g. divorce, separation, termination).

Resentful stalkers: pursue a vendetta because of a sense of grievance against the victims - motivated mainly by the desire to frighten and distress the victim.

Intimacy seekers: The intimacy seeker seeks to establish an intimate, loving relationship with their victim. To them, the victim is a long sought-after soul mate, and they were meant to be together. (Most female stalkers are intimacy seekers. ^*)

Eroto-manic stalker: This stalker believes that the victim is in love with them. The erotomaniac reinterprets what their victim says and does to support the delusion, and is convinced that the imagined romance will eventually become a permanent union. They often target a celebrity or a person of a higher social status. Though it is important to note, not all celebrity stalkers are eroto-maniacs.

Incompetent suitor: despite poor social/courting skills, possess a sense of entitlement to an intimate relationship with those who have attracted their amorous interest.

Predatory stalker: spy on the victim in to prepare and plan an attack - usually sexual – on the victim.

Many stalkers fit categories with paranoid disorders. Intimacy-seeking stalkers often have delusional disorders that are secondary to preexisting psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. With rejected stalkers, the continual clinging to a relationship of an inadequate or dependant person couples with the entitlement of the narcissistic personality, and the persistent jealousy of the paranoid personality. In contrast, resentful stalkers demonstrate an almost “pure culture of persecution,” with delusional disorders of the paranoid type, paranoid personalities, and paranoid schizophrenia. ^*

Laws on stalking

The first law to criminalise stalking in developed countries is the one in California, enacted in 1990. Within seven years thereafter, every state in the United States and some other common-law jurisdictions followed suit to create the crime of stalking, perhaps under different names such as criminal harassment or criminal menace. The laws against stalking in different jurisdictions vary, and so do the definitions. (see U.S. Stalking Laws) Some make the act illegal as it stands, while others do only if the stalking becomes threatening or endangers the receiving end. In England and Wales, liability may arise in the event that the victim suffers either mental or physical harm as a result of being stalked (see R. v. Constanza). Many states in the US also recognize stalking as grounds for issuance of a civil restraining order. Since this requires a lower burden of proof than a criminal charge, laws recognizing non-criminal allegations of stalking suffer the same risk of abuse seen with false allegations of domestic violence.

In 2000, Japan enacted a national law to combat this behaviour. However, the nature of the acts of stalking can be viewed as acts "interfering the tranquility of others' lives", and are prohibited under petty offence laws in China, made in 1987 (replaced by a new law, but the substance is preserved). Stalking, as in the context of organised crimes suppression, is expressly forbidden under Macau's laws.

The United Nations in 2003 regarded stalking a crime against humanity.

Effects of Stalking

Common effects of stalking on a victim's mental and emotional health include:

Denial and self-doubt (the victim does not believe what is happening to them, and will doubt their perceptions)
Self-blame
Guilt, shame or embarrassment
Frustration
Low self-esteem
Self-consciousness or insecurity
Shock and confusion
Irritability
Fear and anxiety; phobias and panic attacks
Anger; feeling violent towards the stalker
Depression
Emotional numbness
Flashbacks
Isolation/disconnection from other people
Feeling on guard most of the time (hypervigilance); being easily startled
Difficulties with concentration or attention
Feeling suicidal
A loss of trust in others
Problems with intimacy
Decreased ability to perform at work or school, or accomplish daily tasks
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD)

Common effects of stalking on a victim’s physiological health:

^*,^*," target="_blank" >[http://www.cpa-apc.org/Publications/Archives/CJP/2002/june/briefCommunicationAbrams.asp

Stalked public figures

In some celebrity stalking cases, the behaviour is quite harmless. In other cases, however, the celebrities being targeted:

have to leave their profession for many years while they build a new life (e.g. Andrea Evans);
have their homes constantly searched and surveilled by political authorities (e.g Václav Havel);
become the victim of violent attacks (Theresa Saldana survived, while others, like John Lennon and Rebecca Schaeffer, did not); or
have resulted in dangerous incidents, killing or injuring the victim (e.g. the Reagan assassination attempt, committed by a stalker of Jodie Foster).

For a detailed list of stalked celebrities, see List of stalked celebrities.

Music

The 1983 single Every Breath You Take by The Police describes the motivations of a stalker. While the song sounds like a sedate and seemingly harmonious love ballad, it was actually written during the collapse of Sting's marriage to Frances Tomelty; the lyrics describe not well-meaning love, but the motivations of a stalker, who is watching "every breath you take/every move you make".

For further reading

How To Stop A Stalker. Proctor, Mike. Prometheus Books, 2000.
The Psychology of Stalking. Meloy, J. Reid. Academic Press, 2000.
Stalkers and Their Victims. Mullen,Paul E., Pathe, Michele, Purcell, Rosemary. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Surviving a Stalker: Everything You Need to Know to Keep Yourself Safe. Gross, Linda. Marlowe & Company, 2000.

Stalking in media and literature

Play Misty for Me Movie about eroto-manic stalking of a radio celebrity
"Hostile Advances: The Kerry Ellison Story." Television movie about a woman stalked by a coworker, and the case that set the "Reasonable Woman" precedent in sexual harassment law

External links

Crimes | Criminology topics

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