Stalking on Campus: The Prevalence and Strategies for Coping with Stalking

Abstract

This epidemiological study explored the prevalence of stalkers and stalking victims among college students. Two questionnaires (one assessing the behaviors of those who stalk others, and the other assessing victims of stalking) were administered to 294 college undergraduates. The questionnaires were then revised and readministered to 299 undergraduates. Thirty percent of the female students and 17% of the males reported having been stalked; 80% reported that they knew their stalker (many had been previously romantically involved with the stalker). Only 1% of the subjects acknowledged having stalked someone, due perhaps to the social undesirability of this behavior. Methods of coping with being stalked were also assessed. The most common response among females was to ignore the stalker; among males it was to confront the stalker.