Abstract
Epidemiological data suggest that as many as 0.66% of adult women and 0.17% of adult men in the western world may suffer the subjective experience of being group-stalked (‘gang stalked’) at some point in their lives. Yet the gang stalking experience has been subject to little scientific study. This paper reports an attempt to elicit the core phenomena involved in gang-stalking by allowing them to emerge de novo through the qualitative analysis of accounts of individuals who describe being gang-stalked. Fifty descriptions of gang-stalking that satisfied study inclusion criteria were identified from the internet and subjected to content analysis. Twenty-four core phenomena were elicited, together with 11 principal sequelae of the experience of being gang-stalked. These were then divided into groups, producing a framework for the phenomena of the gang-stalking experience. The results were compared with frequencies of the same categories of experience then extracted from the original data of the only previous study on gang-stalking phenomena. Whilst the methodology of the current study was more rigorous, the core phenomena were similar in each. The current study confirmed the seriousness of the sequelae of the gang-stalking experience. These support the need for further exploration of the phenomenon, for which this study forms a basis.
Highlights
Stalking denotes a pattern of repeated, unwanted intrusion by one person into the life of another in a manner that causes distress, disruption, or fear [1,2]
Given that the available evidence suggests that 12% of stalking reports involve gang-stalking and that, at a conservative estimate, 8% of women and 2% of men report being stalked at some point in their lives, it would appear that the subjective experience of being gang-stalked could affect around
The current study provides a preliminary description of the phenomena involved that was produced by a methodology that did not incorporate pre-conceived assumptions
Summary
Stalking denotes a pattern of repeated, unwanted intrusion by one person into the life of another in a manner that causes distress, disruption, or fear [1,2]. The concept of stalking was introduced in the late 1980s to describe a form of interpersonal aggression that, common through the ages, had come to be socially unacceptable in the western world after the recognition of equal rights for women and the prosecution of domestic violence. Since the turn of the millennium, another term linked to stalking has gained currency in the media and on the world wide web—that of ‘group’ or ‘gang’ stalking. Reports of group or gang-stalking describe stalking by multiple individuals who engage in a shared endeavour with a group purpose. The number is taken as three or more, in many instances those suffering from the phenomenon have reported the involvement of far greater numbers [5]
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