On Being Stalked

Abstract

Over the past decade “stalking” has emerged as a new social problem. Some reported cases of stalking involve efforts to extract vengeance from another right from the start; others ultimately come to center around vengeful threats and violence. But the dynamic characteristic of most cases of what ultimately come to be recognized as stalking involves efforts to establish (or re-establish) a relationship in the face of the other's resistance. This paper uses data collected from a variety of sources to examine the social processes through which such relational stalkings emerge and come to be recognized as such. From the point of view of those who eventually may come to feel that they are being stalked, these processes involve permutations and exaggerations of a variety of common relational behaviors, including: recognizing that one is being followed; learning that another is pursuing detailed information about one's life and routines; fielding and putting off persistent relational proposals; and countering continuing relational escalations. Under these circumstances, the pursuer's attentions may eventually turn strongly hostile and even violent, leading to the kinds of threats and harm that have come to be publicly identified as “stalking.”