An estimated 12 – 16% of women and 4 – 7% of men will be stalked in their lifetimes. The federal government and all 50 states have enacted anti-stalking statutes, yet there is still no universally accepted definition of what constitutes stalking. When I speak of stalking, I mean a pattern of behavior carried out by one person against another which is intended harass, intimidate, or terrorize the victim (and usually does).
Cyberstalking occurred in about 25% of cases studied, which seems low to me. (If my suspicion is correct, the reasons for the low numbers may arise from the data collection methodology, the population being studied, and similar reasons that I won’t elaborate on here.) However, it seems likely that cyberstalking will increase, since the potential for surveillance and harassment is huge while the risk to the stalker is small.
Former spouses and paramours are the most common targets of stalking, followed by victims being stalked by an acquaintance. Only about 1 in 4 incidents involves stalking by a stranger. Most stalkers are men (70-80%, as reported by various studies), but one specific type of stalking is perpetrated almost exclusively by women, as explained below.
SIX TYPES OF STALKERS – PLUS ONE
Dr. Ronald M. Holmes, professor emeritus of criminology, has proposed these categories:
- Celebrity – those who stalk famous people. John Hinckley, for example.
- Lust – serial predators who will stalk victim after victim. Serial rapists and murderers may begin as lust stalkers. Ted Bundy, for example.
- Love-Scorned – an acquaintance, coworker, neighbor, etc. who desires an intimate relationship with the victim, but is rebuffed. A sub-type of the love-scorned stalker is someone with the delusional disorder, erotomania. This type of stalker – usually female – believes that her target is madly in love with her. The woman who repeatedly broke into David Letterman’s home and stole his car, claiming to be his “wife,” is an example.
- Hit (murder for hire) – stalking of a victim by a hired killer in order to commit murder.
- Political – stalking motivated by political beliefs, whether agreement or disagreement with the victim. Sirhan Sirhan, for example.
- Domestic – stalking of a former spouse or paramour. The most prevalent kind of stalking, and one which can manifest in the workplace, putting innocent bystanders at risk.
I propose one additional category:
- Revenge – an angry ex-employee, an aggrieved business partner, a resentful neighbor, a vindictive relative, or any other person – usually known to the victim – whose motive for stalking is payback. An example is the ex-con (Max Cady) in the movie, Cape Fear. He stalks the lawyer (Sam Bowden) who represented him at trial.
There is no reliable profile to predict who is likely to stalk. Some patterns have begun to emerge from research, though these fall short of providing a reliable checklist. But what we have learned is interested and could be useful. The following applies to the U.S. population and may not apply to other nationalities.
- Unemployed or under-employed
- Age: late 30’s to late 40’s
- High school and/or college graduate
- More intelligent that most criminals
- Any race or ethnicity
- Mostly male, although erotomania is manifested overwhelmingly in females
- Many are delusional
- Clinical and personality disorders were present in over half the stalkers in one study
- Few are psychopathic, but may be narcissistic, borderline, histrionic, or antisocial)
In one study, women reported being more afraid of being stalked by an unknown stranger than by someone they knew. It’s easy to see why an unknown predator seems scarier. He or she is the boogeyman (boogeyperson?) – mysterious, unapproachable, unpredictable, and capable of anything. Someone you know – even someone who holds a grudge against you – seems more finite and manageable. But the greater danger by far is the devil you know.
from Psychology Today - Relationships http://ift.tt/1NRlb3F
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