Perceptions Of Stalking Research Articles

Perceived Severity of Stalking Behavior and Blame Attributions among Malaysians: The Influence of Prior Relationship, Belief in a Just World, and Dark Tetrad Personality Traits

ABSTRACT The ‘just world hypothesis’ is often used to explain victim blame attribution in assault cases, while dark personality traits are known to predict victim-blaming attitudes in sexual harassment situations, but little work has empirically tested these hypotheses within the context of stalking perpetration. Research investigating perceptions toward stalking is also scarce in the Asia region. This study examined whether the prior relationship between the stalking perpetrator and victim, just world beliefs, and Dark Tetrad traits influence judgments of severity of the behavior and perceptions of victim responsibility in a country that does not currently have anti-stalking legislation. Three hundred and thirty university students and general community members in Malaysia read a fictional stalking scenario in which the perpetrator was depicted as a stranger, acquaintance, or ex-partner. Participants evaluated whether the perpetrator’s behavior constitutes stalking, requires police intervention, would cause the victim alarm, personal distress, or to fear the use of violence, and can be attributed to the victim’s behavior. There were significant differences between the perpetrator-target prior relationship conditions on perceptions of stalking. Just world beliefs, Machiavellianism, and narcissism were positively associated with perceived victim responsibility, while each Dark Tetrad trait had differential associations with perceived severity of the stalking behavior, albeit with small effect sizes. Further regression analyses revealed that belief in a just world was a consistent predictor of perceived victim responsibility. Findings confirm that the individual observer’s internal and external factors influence how stalking is perceived, which have implications for victims of stalking and the legal system.

Where to draw the line? The influence of prior relationship, perpetrator-target sex and perpetrator motivation on the point at which behavior 'crosses the line' and becomes stalking.

The present study examines the influence of prior relationship (intimate, non-intimate), perpetrator-target sex (male-female, female-male) and perpetrator motivation (romance, upset) on (1) the point at which behavior crosses the line and becomes stalking, and (2) the likelihood of offering five forms of advice to the target (formal support, informal support, protective measures, avoidance measures, threatening action). The study used a 2×2×2 between-participants experimental design. Four-hundred and sixty-one UK students read one of eight versions of a hypothetical scenario that they were informed may or may not depict a stalking situation. Analyses revealed that 97.8% (n=451) of participants believed the perpetrator's behavior constituted stalking, and that behavior was perceived to cross the line earlier in the scenario when the perpetrator's motivation was to upset the target in the context of a non-intimate prior relationship only. Prior relationship, perpetrator-target sex and perpetrator motivation also influenced the likelihood of offering various forms of advice to the target. These findings further demonstrate the impact of situational characteristics on perceptions of stalking and highlight the importance of educational campaigns and programs to increase people's understanding of stalking.

Perceptions of Stalking: Examining Perceivers' Country of Origin, Perpetrator-Target Prior Relationship, and the Mediating Effect of Victim Responsibility.

Research in stalking perceptions has shown certain relational biases, in which people tend to view ex-partner stalkers to be less dangerous than stranger or acquaintance stalkers. These findings are in direct contrast to those of real-life cases whereby ex-partner stalkers pose a greater threat. In addition, although stalking is recognized as a global social problem, most studies have been based on samples drawn from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic countries. The current study examined whether the prior relationship between the stalking perpetrator and target influences people’s perceptions of stalking and whether cross-national differences exist between participants based in Malaysia (where there is currently no law that criminalizes stalking) and England (where stalking has been outlawed since 1997). In a 3 × 2 between-subjects design, 294 Malaysian participants and 170 English participants were presented with a vignette describing a stalking scenario in which the perpetrator was depicted as a stranger, acquaintance, or ex-partner. Participants judged the extent to which the perpetrator’s behavior constitutes stalking; necessitates police intervention; would cause the victim alarm or personal distress; would cause the victim to fear the use of violence; and can be attributed to encouragement on the part of the victim. Results showed that typical relational biases existed in both samples, but Malaysian participants were less likely than their English counterparts to label any harassing scenario as serious. Perceptions of victim responsibility were found to mediate the effect of prior relationship and nationality on participants’ perceptions. The findings point to the urgency of better cross-cultural understanding of harassment behavior as well as legislations against stalking.

Prior relationship, relationship breakdown, and group decisions in the attribution of cases of stalking

Studies concerned with perceptions of stalking have demonstrated that the prior relationship between the stalker and the victim biases decision making in both individual and mock jury situations. These biases tend to benefit ex-partners over strangers yet the reality of stalking is that it is ex-partners who cause more concern and are more dangerous. Previous research demonstrates that one way to overcome this bias during individual decision making is to provide information describing the reasons for the previous relationship breaking down. The current mixed-method study examines the influence of this information on small groups randomly assigned to one of five conditions where the relationship information provided differed and individual and group decisions regarding vignettes of stalking situations were examined. Group decisions and analysis of the deliberations indicated that in small group settings, as with the previous findings for individual decisions, relationship information plays a role in overcoming the ex-partner bias.

Male stalking victimization: prevalence, characteristics and impact

Introduction: Men are more likely than women to engage as perpetrators of violent crime [1]. Male victimization has remained under-researched and only more recently had received scientific interest (e.g., intimate partner victimization) [2]. Likewise, stalking has been characterized by a high number of women involved as victims and men involved as perpetrators [3], being recognized as a gender crime against women in the Istanbul Convention [4]. Research on perceptions of stalking has revealed that male stalking victimization is considered less concerning and less dangerous than female victimization and that males should be able to control their own stalking experience [1]. This study aimed to identify the prevalence, characteristics and impact of stalking victimization in Portuguese men. Helpseeking behaviors are also analyses. Materials and methods: We used a subsample composed for 570 men, retrieved from of a representative national sample inquired about stalking victimization. The participants were a mean age of 43.78 (DP = 17.99), were mostly married (51%) and employed (71%). The Stalking Victimization Inventory was developed to assess stalking victimization and associated features. The inventory included 23 items, organized in five sections, namely sociodemographic characterization, prevalence of stalking victimization, behaviors and dynamics, impact, and helpseeking sources. To guarantee that participants understood the focus of the study, data were collected through face-to-face interviews, conducted all over the country, during three months. Results: The lifetime prevalence of stalking in men was 13.6% (n=?). The stalker was mostly perpetrated by a woman (75%), without any intimate relationship (former or actual) in 62% and by an intimate partner in 38% of the cases. The participants were victims of a diversity of stalking behaviours (M = 3.48; DP = 2.07). For the majority stalking lasted more than a month (71%) and, in the most intense phase, stalker attacks occurred daily or weekly (86%). The majority (80.8%) reported that stalking behaviours negatively affected some area of their individual functioning, with intimate relationships and psychological health being the most affected (57% and 54%, respectively). A hierarchical linear regression allowed to identify as significant independent predictors of greater impact the sex of the stalker (being male, B = - 3.87, 95%CI [-7,15,.619]), a higher diversity of stalking behaviours suffered (B = .94, 95%CI [.24, 1.63]) and to feel fear as a consequence of the stalking victimization (B = 7.11, 95%CI [2.68, 11.52]). Despite this, only 25.4% of the victims sought some kind of support to cope with stalking victimization. Discussion and conclusions: The results show that stalking against men in Portugal should deserve more attention, namely because it has an impact on different areas and well-being of victims. Victim support institutions and judicial entities should ensure gender neutral support services in order to adequate response to the needs of male victims.

Differential Effects of Gender on Canadian Police Officers’ Perceptions of Stalking

Stalking (also known as “criminal harassment” in Canada) is broadly defined as repeated contact with another individual that elicits fear. By manipulating the details of an actual stalking case, the present study examined the role of actor sex (man–woman [M-W], woman–man [W-M]) on perceptions of stalking in a sample of local police officers. Consistent with previous research, officers who read the M-W case anticipated more physical, emotional, psychological, and economic harm, as well as greater likelihood of a prison sentence by judges, than officers who read the W-M case. Actor sex did not influence officers’ perceptions of seriousness, likelihood of a jury conviction, or identification of criminal harassment. The findings may be used to develop intervention programs aimed at educating law enforcement, social support workers, and community agencies to ensure appropriate protection and treatment of individuals stalked by former partners.

The Influence of Prior Relationship on Perceptions of Stalking

The current research examined the influence of prior relationship on perceptions of stalking, and compared the perceptions of laypersons, nonspecialist police officers, and specialist police officers. Two studies employed experimental designs where participants were presented with one of three vignettes in which the nature of the prior relationship was manipulated so that the perpetrator and victim were portrayed as strangers, acquaintances, or ex-partners. Participants comprised 101 nonspecialist police officers and 108 laypersons in Study 1, and 49 specialist police officers and 49 nonspecialist police officers in Study 2. Findings indicate that nonspecialist police officers and laypersons shared the common misperception that stranger stalkers present a greater threat to the personal safety of their victims than acquaintance or ex-partner stalkers. Specialist police officers were less susceptible to common misperceptions and believed that intervention was more necessary. Specialist police officers also believed that the perpetrator’s behavior would cause the victim more alarm or personal distress than nonspecialist police officers.

Do Men and Women Differ in Their Perceptions of Stalking: An Exploratory Study Among College Students

Stalking is a crime that can terrify its victims and ultimately take a severe emotional toll. Although a growing body of research has examined stalking experiences and reactions of victims, there has been far less research on whether men and women differ in their perceptions of stalking. Toward this end, a survey of college students at a large public 4-year Midwestern university was undertaken. We examined differences is how men and women view stalking and whether gender differences were moderated by prior stalking experience. Specifically, we examined whether there were gender differences in perceptions of the pervasiveness of stalking, the harm stalking does, who tends to be stalked, if stalking mainly involves former relational partners, possible motivations for stalking, the line between courtship and stalking, and notions of victim blaming. We found significant differences in stalking views between men and women on all the measures, except for perceptions of the line between courtship and stalking. Women tended to perceive stalking as more pervasive and harmful. Men were more likely to perceive stalking as involving strangers and to blame the victim for the stalking. Female and male respondents also differed in their perceptions of motivations for stalking. Prior victim stalking experience did not moderate the gender differences. Although being a prior stalking victim had a significant association with 4 of the 7 stalking perception variables, its effect sizes were smaller than that of gender.

‘Reasonable’ perceptions of stalking: the influence of conduct severity and the perpetrator–target relationship

Ex-partner stalkers are more persistent and dangerous than stranger stalkers, but are less likely to be convicted of an offence. This research considers whether the just world hypothesis (JWH) can account for this apparent contradiction. An experimental 3×3 independent factorial design was used to investigate the influence of conduct severity and the perpetrator–target relationship on perceptions of stalking. Three hundred and thirty-four students were presented with one of nine vignettes and asked to complete five scale items relating to the situation described. Conduct severity and the perpetrator–target relationship produced significant main effects for the combined scale items. The perpetrator's behaviour was perceived to constitute stalking, necessitate police intervention and/or criminal charges, and cause the target alarm or personal distress to a greater extent when the perpetrator and target were depicted as strangers rather than ex-partners. Conversely, the target was perceived to be less responsible for encouraging the perpetrator's behaviour in the stranger condition compared to the ex-partner condition. The JWH provides a possible explanation for the influence of the perpetrator–target relationship on perceptions of stalking. Future research could utilize more realistic vignettes to increase the impact of the perpetrator's behaviour.

Mock Jurors’ Perception of Stalking: The Impact of Gender and Expressed Fear

Two experiments investigated mock-juror perceptions of intimate stalking using Kentucky’s (United States) anti-stalking legislation. Experiment 1 used a mock-juror methodology in which 177 undergraduates (87 men and 90 women) from a large southeastern US university read a stalking trial summary and rendered individual judgments as mock jurors. The main research question of Experiment 1 was how participant gender impacted trial judgments (e.g., verdict) when the gender of both the defendant and victim were manipulated. Overall, the results showed that men rendered significantly fewer guilty verdicts than women, particularly in conditions that included the prototypical type of intimate stalking (female victim/male defendant). In Experiment 2, also using a mock-juror methodology, 129 undergraduates (51 men and 78 women) from a large southeastern U.S. university read a stalking trial summary (involving a female victim and male defendant) and rendered individual judgments as mock jurors. The main research question of Experiment 2 focused on whether victim fear (high or low) impacted trial judgments (e.g., verdict). The results yielded an interaction of participant gender and victim fear. Specifically, whereas different levels of fear did not impact women, men yielded fewer guilty verdicts in the low victim fear condition compared to the high victim fear condition. The results of the present experiments are discussed in terms of the implications of stalking allegations brought to trial.

The Influence of Prior Relationship on Perceptions of Stalking in the United Kingdom and Australia

Research in the United Kingdom and Australia has produced inconsistent findings regarding the influence of the prior relationship between the perpetrator and the target on perceptions of stalking. It is unclear whether these inconsistencies represent a genuine cross-cultural difference. The current study investigates the influence of prior relationship and the nationality of participants on perceptions of stalking with a combined sample of 315 university students from the United Kingdom and Australia. Overall, perceptions failed to reflect the reality that ex-partner stalkers pose a greater threat than stranger or acquaintance stalkers. Participants were more likely to believe that behavior constituted stalking, necessitated police intervention, caused fear or apprehension, and caused mental or physical harm when the perpetrator was depicted as a stranger rather than an acquaintance or ex-partner. The direction of findings was consistent in the United Kingdom and Australia, although Australian participants perceived the perpetrator’s behavior to be more severe than did participants from the United Kingdom.

Male Victims of Former-Intimate Stalking: A Selected Review

Over the past decade, there has been an increase of research on former-intimate stalking, with many studies examining female victims and male perpetrators of this crime. Most of this research has shown that males form a significant proportion of those who are stalked by a former-intimate partner, and in more recent years, some studies have found that former-intimate stalking, like “domestic violence,” is gender neutral or gender-inclusive. Experimental research on perceptions of stalking has revealed that male stalking victimization is considered less concerning and less dangerous than female victimization and that males should be able to control their own stalking experience. Clearly, female stalking victimization is a serious social problem and studies on this are common. However, this is not the case for male stalking victims. This selected review will examine the prevalence of stalking for males across different samples, male and female perceptions of the acts that may constitute stalking, perceptions of male and female stalking perpetrators, and perceptions of male victimization and their impact on men.

Stalking acknowledgement and reporting among college women experiencing intrusive behaviors: Implications for the emergence of a “classic stalking case”

Research confirms the risk of victimization faced by women who attend the nation's universities. While stalking began to receive heightened attention in the 1990s, relative to other types of victimization, research regarding college women's stalking experiences is in its infancy. In particular, relatively little is known about victim acknowledgement of stalking and the process whereby victims decide to report to police. Drawing upon data from 1,010 female university students, this study provided important advances in understanding stalking-related victimization for college women, highlighting the influences that fear, offender relationship, types of behaviors involved, and other victimization experiences have on victim acknowledgement and police reporting. Findings offered important advancements in defining a “classic stalking case.” This study had implications for university and public policymakers, educators, and police officers who could benefit from improved understanding of women's perceptions of stalking and their formal help-seeking behavior in response to stalking-related behavior.

Criminalizing Attractions: Perceptions of Stalking and the Stalker

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the conceptualization of the predatory stalker came to the forefront of the criminal concerns imagined by the American public. With this growing public concern and the associated media coverage, legislation designed to enhance punishments against those who might stalk became a political asset and a significant plank for reelection campaigns. Adequate definition for the phenomena, however, has yet to be established, and idiosyncratic application of the law at the policing level remains a problem. This study works toward providing a better definition of the problem from the public’s perspective. Variables significant to the definition of the problem were identified and used in survey work to assess their importance in the individual’s interpretation of the stalking label. Several of these variables are significantly tied to the individual’s willingness to ascribe a stalking label to a given behavioral transaction.

Community perceptions of stalking: What are the fundamental concerns?

The present study sought to examine community conceptions of what constitutes stalking by manipulating the role of intent to cause harm or fear (present or absent), consequences to the victim (extreme fear, moderate fear, no fear) and offender‐victim relationship (stranger, ex‐intimate, acquaintance) in an alleged stalking scenario. 540 participants from the Melbourne (Australia) community read a vignette detailing persistent and potentially harassing conduct by a male directed towards a female. Results indicated that participants classified stalking according to the actions of the accused, such as following, telephoning and watching the target The presence or absence of intentions to cause harm or fear, the consequences to the victim, and the relationship of the target to the accused played no role in the identification of behaviour as stalking. Results are discussed in terms of the fundamental concems of the community and the scope of the criminal law, particularly stalking legislation.