Abstract
This chapter applies an assessment technology and functional analysis to stalking behavior. This approach is suggested as a means to collect information that might be of service to law enforcement officials, mental health professionals, stalking victims, and others who compete with stalking. Scientific progress in understanding stalking must begin with a consensus on the description of what is meant by this term. There are two general problems with definitions of stalking found in the literature. First, the term “stalking” does not differentiate between a general class of behaviors and the specific act of following someone. The second general problem with current stalking definitions concerns the use of the word “obsessional.” Obsessions have been traditionally viewed as being unwanted or intrusive thoughts. Functional analysis is derived from a behavior-analytic approach to understanding behavior. It is a pragmatic approach to understanding behavior, as the focus is on predicting and controlling behavior by identifying variables that can be manipulated to affect behavior. A functional relation occurs when a contingent relation is observed between two or more variables, that is, when a change in one results in a change in the other.
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