Stalking powerpoint presentation

1. STUDY ON STALKERS
DR M I N IKRAM

2. 2

3. 3

4. What is stalking?
• a pattern of intrusive behaviour or harassment;
• a resulting implicit or explicit threat; and
• that causes the threatened person to experience reasonable fear.
• COMMUNICATION –
telephone calls letters email graffiti
• CONTACT –
approaching the victim following surveillance
• Associated behaviours –
ordering goods on the victims behalf
initiating spurious legal actions
threats
property damage
assault 4

5. 5
Prevalence
• Lifetime risk for - men 4 - 7% women 12 - 17%
• Majority of stalkers are MEN who prey on WOMEN (77%)
• Approx. 75% of abusive relationships that end → result in stalking
behaviour
• VICTIMS
– 1 in 12 Woman
– 1 in 45 Men
– Majority of victims: 18 to 29 years
• DURATION
– Less than 1 year 52%
– 1 to 2 years 16%
– 2 to 5 years 23%
– 5 years or more 9%
– On average, stalking cases last 1.8 years (21 months)

6. • FEMALE VICTIMS
58% were stalked by someone they had been intimate with
24% were stalked by casual acquaintances
3% were stalked through a work relationship
7% stalked by a stranger
• MALE VICTIMS
were usually stalked by a casual acquaintance
male victims are most often stalked by another male
9% were stalked by an ex-spouse
4% were stalked by a current or former girlfriend
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7. History
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By Louisa May Alcott (1866)
• Persistent pursuit and intrusion
by discarded partner

8. History
Law
• Dennis v. Lane 1704
• Regina vs Dunn 1840
Psychiatric Literature
• Mental Maladies by Esquirol JED (1965)
• Manic-Depressive Insanity and Paranoia by Kraeplin E (1921)
• Textbook of Insanity by Krafft-Ebing R (1904)
Media
• Intrusions on celebrities by fans with mental disorders
• Later, to range of recurrent harassment behaviours particulary domestic
disputes
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9. Stalking can be the product of a
number of different states of mind
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10. 10
As a Normal behavior
• Aspirations as initiating or re-establishing a relationship
As a Crime
• Victim’s perceptions of being harassed and made them
fearful
It is not the intentions and behaviours of the
perpetrator that create a stalking event but how
the actions are experienced and articulated by the
victim

11. Classifications
• Zona et al (1993)
3 distinct groups: erotomanic
love obsessional
simple obsessional
• Harmon et al (1995)
two axes:
1. nature and attachment
affectionate/amorous or
persecutory/angry
2. defining the previous relationship
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12. Classifications
• Psychotic vs non-psychotic stalkers
• De Becker (4 categories)
– attachment seeking
– identity seeking
– rejection based
– delusionally based
• RECON typology
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13. METHOD
• Case materials gathered from 1993 -1997
• Referrals from throughout the state of Victoria (pop. 4.7 million)
– From courts
– Community correction services
– Police
– Medical practitioners
– Self referral
• Definition of stalking
– Repeated (at least 10 times) and
– Persistent (lasting for 4 weeks)
– Unwelcome attempts (based on feelings of the victim) to approach or
communicate with the victim 13

14. METHOD
• Communication subdivided into employing
– Telephone calls
– Mails and facsimile
– Email
– Other (incl. graffiti / notes attached to property)
• Contacts was separated into
– Following and maintaining surveillance
– Approaching the victim
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15. METHOD
• Associated behaviours separated into
– Giving or ordering on the victim’s behalf
– Unsolicited goods
– Initiating bogus legal actions
• The associated violence was grouped into
– Threats
– Property damage
– Actual assault (physical and sexual)
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16. RESULTS
• Demographics
• Duration and nature of stalking behaviour
• Associated Behaviors
• Threats and Violence
• Relationship to Victim
• Psychiatric Status
• Criminal Histories
• Motivation and Context
• Predictors of Type and Duration of Stalking
• Association With Threats and Violence
• Response to Management Strategies
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17. Demographics
• Criteria fulfilled – 145 stalkers
• Age range – 15 to 75 years (median 38 years)
– 51% Never had a long-term relationship
– 30% currently separated or divorced
– 39% unemployed
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115
30
Gender
male female

18. Duration and nature of stalking
behaviour
• Varied from 4 weeks to 20 years (median 12 months)
• Method of communication
– Most common – by telephone (78%) often multiple
calls (max. 200 in 24 hours)
– Letters (65%) – occ. Note to daily deluge (property,
walls, car)
– Flood with emails
– Some had detailed knowledge on victims movements ,
tracking by phone
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19. Duration and nature of stalking
behaviour
• Maintained contacts by
– Repeated approach in public places (86%)
– Through surveillance and persistent following (73%)
– Equipped cameras, audio transmitters (4)
– Employed detective agencies or persuaded them (3)
– Obtained licence to work as a private investigator
– Hired helicopter to maintain surveillance
• In 92 cases (63%) , between 3 to 5 methods were used
• In 16 cases (11%) , 7 different methods were used
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20. Associated behaviours
• 48% gave unwelcomed gifts
– Chocolates / flowers / self-help books / picture of
stalker / mutilated photo of victim / dead cat
• Goods and services ordered on victims behalf
– Pizza / ambulances / magazine subscriptions / plane
tickets
• Bogus legal actions (8%)
– Aimed at forcing contact
– Accusations of stalking and harassment intend to pre-
empt victims pursuit of legal actions
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21. Threats and Violence
• Threats to
– Victim (58%)
– Third parties (39%)
– Both (33%)
• Violence
– Property damage (40%) - most common target victims
car
– Attacking victim (36%)
– Assaulting third parties (6%)
– Attacks intend to frighten and physically injure
someone (38) – mainly bruises / abrasions but also # /
stab
– Sexual assaults (14) – attempted or accomplished rapes
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22. Relationship to victim
• Ex partners (30%)
• Professional relationship with the victim (23%) – often a
medical practitioner
• Initial contact through work related interaction with fellow
employees / customers (11%)
• Casual acquaintance (19%)
• No previous contact with the victim (14%)
• Stalking celebrities (3)
12 women stalked women ; 9 men stalked men
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23. Psychiatric status
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24. • 62 had SUD
• 15 had Morbid infatuations
• 14 had Schizophrenia – 5 had erotomanic delusions
• 3 had DD – erotomanic type
• 5 had MJ
• 2 had BAD
• 2 MDD
• 1 anxiety disorder
• Primary diagnosis of Personality disorder in 74 men (51%)
(majority Cluster B)
– 25% had Comorbid SUD
• Psychosis in 59 men (40%)
– DD
– F20
– BAD
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25. Criminal histories
• Previous criminal convictions – (39%)
– Interpersonal violence (41)
– Sexual offenders (10)
– Previous stalking conviction (1)
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26. Motivation & context
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27. Zona’s Stalker–Victim Types
• Zona, Sharma, and Lane identified distinct stalker–victim
types dividing stalkers into three categories:
1. simple obsessional,
2. love obsessional, and
3. erotomanic
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28. 1 Simple obsessional cases
• by far the most common,
• a stalking perpetrator and victim have some prior
knowledge of each other, and very often some prior
relationship.
• This relationship may be in the context of a work
environment (employer–employee), medical setting
(physician–patient), or may be an intimate relationship.
• motivated to coerce the victim back into the previous
relationship or to exact revenge for a one-sided termination
of the bond.
• Because there are fewer barriers to engage in physical
contact between stalker and victim, these cases have the
highest potential to result in violence
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29. 2 Love obsessional stalking
• The stalker and stalked person (victim) have no prior
relationship.
• These stalkers are the type that victimizes celebrities,
known as the prototypical “obsessed fan.”
• Stalkers who perpetrate this type of behaviour are more
likely to have a DSM axis I diagnosis of severe and
persistent mental illness such as schizophrenia,
schizoaffective, or bipolar disorders.
• Stalkers in this category will often focus on their victim after
seeing him or her in public forum via media outlets.
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30. Robert Bardo shot and killed actress Rebecca
Schaeffer
CA v. BARDO (1991)
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Robert John Bardo, an obsessed fan, after stalking for 3 years, had
charged with the fatal 1989 shooting of young actress Rebecca Schaeffer.
The defence claims Bardo's mental illness has to blame for his actions.
Bardo faced a trial by judge and serving life imprisonment without
parole. Rebecca Schaeffer's murder ultimately led to the first anti-
stalking law.

31. 3 Erotomanic stalking
• a stalker delusionally believes that the stalking victim is
also in love with them.
• The rarest within Zona’s classification system,
• its overlap with the DSM-V diagnosis of delusional disorder,
Erotomanic type.
• A unique characteristic of this group is that the majority of
stalkers are females, often young women, whose victims
are classically men of higher socioeconomic status.
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32. Mullen’s Stalker Typology
•Rejected stalkers
•Resentful stalkers
•Intimacy seekers
•Incompetent stalkers
•Predatory stalkers
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33. Rejected stalkers (35%)
• Rejection of relationship - mostly ex partner
• Also occurring with separation from the mother
• From a broken friendship
• From disrupted work relationship
• Majority had Personality Dx
• Some had DD , MJ
– Mixture of desire for both reconciliation and revenge
– Sense of loss combined with frustration, anger,
jealousy, cruelty, sadness
– Most likely to assault their victim
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34. Intimacy seekers (33%)
• Seek intimacy with the object of their unwanted attention,
• Whom they have identified as their true love
• Commonly isolated, socially inept, possibly psychotic
• Central purpose – TO ESTABLISH A RELATIONSHIP
• Partners indifference –to their approaches – enraged them
• DD – erotomanic type (27)
• Schizophrenia (5)
• Mania (2)
• Morbid infatuations (15)
• Personality Dx (7)
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35. Incompetent suitors (15%)
• Acknowledged that the object of their attention did not
reciprocate their affection
• Hoped that their behaviour would lead to intimacy
• Intellectually limited and socially incompetent persons
whose knowledge of courting was rudimentary
• Men with sense of entitlement to a partner but no capacity
/ willingness to start by social interaction
• Not infatuated; only attracted
• Had often previously stalked others
• Regarded their victims as attractive potential partners
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36. Incompetent stalker differ from
intimacy seeker
✓ Did not award them with unique qualities
✓ Attracted but not infatuated (love-sick)
✓ Made no claims that there feelings were reciprocated
(mutually shared)
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37. Resentful stalkers (11%)
• Stalked to frighten and distress the victim
• Some pursued a vendetta against specific victim (8)
– Ex: Stalked a medical practitioner failed to diagnose
wife's CA
• Some choose victim randomly
– Persistently pursued a young woman
• When stalker experienced a humiliating professional
rejection and
• When he glimpsed in the street,
• She appeared attractive,
• Wealthy, and
• Happy
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38. • The resentful stalker experiences feelings of injustice and
desires revenge against their victim rather than a
relationship.
• Their behavior reflects their perception that they have been
humiliated and treated unfairly.
• viewing themselves as the victim
• The harassment is sustained by the satisfaction the stalker
obtains from the sense of power and control
• This group frequently issues overt and covert threats but
rarely resorts to physical violence in general
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39. Mark Chapman, the notorious John
Lennon stalker and murderer is a
classic case of a resentful stalker
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He described himself as the world’s biggest rock fan and admired
Lennon and all his work, until he read a biography of the musician.
Angered that Lennon would “preach love and peace but yet have
millions [of dollars],”
Diagnosed with Schizophrenia by 5/6 psychiatrists

40. Predatory stalkers (4%)
• Took pleasure in the sense of power produced by stalking
• Elements of
– Getting to know their victim
– Rehearsing their intended attack in fantasy
– Usually for sexual and voyeuristic gratification
• Predominantly had paraphilias
• The stalking is covert so as not to alert the victim to the
impending attack, but some derive pleasure from making
the victim aware of being watched without revealing his or
her own (the stalker’s) identity
• More likely than other groups to have previous convictions
for sexual offenses
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41. RECON typology
• RECON classification system for stalking behaviour that
separates stalkers into four groups based on two key
domains.
• (i) the nature of the previous relationship between stalker
and victim (relationship, RE) and
• (ii) the context in which this relationship was based (context,
CON) as predictive of distinct categories of stalkers, especially
as they related to predicting risk of violent behaviour.
• Under this classification scheme,
– intimate and acquaintance stalkers (type I) have had
previous relationships with their victims, while
– public figure and private stranger stalkers (type II) have
not had previous relationships with their victims
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42. TYPE I - Intimate stalkers
• those whom have been involved in an intimate relationship
(marriage, dating, sexual, cohabitating) with their victim.
• this group was the largest, making up 50% of all stalkers.
• This group was by far the most dangerous, being the most
likely to be
– violent,
– to use or to threaten use of weapons,
– to exhibit suicidal ideation or behaviour, and to
– abuse alcohol or other illicit substances.
• The majority are men
• recidivist stalking behaviour is near-universal despite
protection orders, incarceration, or other deterrents
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43. TYPE I - Acquaintance stalkers
• Are known to their victims but
• have not been involved in an intimate or sexual
relationship.
• Examples of such relationships include
– work and other professional relationships,
– nonintimate friendships, and
– clinician– patient interactions.
• Strong desire to initiate a relationship, with
• sporadic pursuit patterns that often last years.
• They are less prone to violence than intimate stalkers
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44. Type II - Public figure stalkers
• “celebrity stalkers” are those who stalk public personalities
with whom they have no prior relationship.
• are more likely to be psychotic, female, and have male
victims.
• celebrity stalkers are unlikely to threaten their victims or
perpetrate violence.
• Political stalkers???
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45. Type II - Private stranger stalkers
• those who stalk someone who is not a public figure with
whom they have no prior relationship.
• Mostly made up of men with serious and persistent mental
illnesses.
• Up to one-third becoming violent in some capacity against
either the stalking object (victim) or his or her property.
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46. Overlap between different typologies
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47. Contact made by stalker
• Telephone calls– 87%
• Surveillance of home– 84%
• Followed– 80%
• Drive by home– 77%
• Appearing at workplace– 54%
• Sent letters– 50%
• Made other types of contact– 49%
• Spread gossip– 48%
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48. Predictors of Type and Duration of Stalking
• Wide range of harassment behaviours seen in – REJECTED & RESENTFUL
• Personality Dx - used Most type of stalking methods
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Calling by telephone – in all types
REJECTED - most likely to telephone
PREDATORY – least likely to telephone

49. Writing letters
• Delusional Dx
• INTIMACY SEEKERS
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50. Following and maintaining
surveillance
• Stalkers with Personality
Dx (twice likely than other
types )
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51. False Victimization (FV)
• Very rare (2%)
• Usually, females
• Turns out the victim is the perpetrator
• Attention seeking behavior
• FVS Red Flags
– Come forward elatedly
– Wants to share all the details
– Expresses little fright
– Seems to be enjoying the attention
– Encourages police/3rd parties to set up a “meeting” so they can talk to
stalker
– Many have history of self mutilation / Suicide attempts
– False claims often follow major life distresses or dramatic moments
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52. Stalking duration
• Most persistent stalkers – INTIMACY SEEKERS
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53. Association With Threats and Violence
• 48% - threatened their victims proceeded to assault them
• 77% - assaulted victims has threatened earlier
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Threats Property damage Assault
Previous convictions Previous convictions Previous convictions
Substance abuse Substance abuse Substance abuse
Typology (resentful &
rejected)

54. Association With Threats and Violence
• Nonpsychotic stalkers more likely to assault
than psychotic stalkers
• Both are equally likely to threaten their
victims
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55. Impact on Stalking Victims
• Anxiety (83%)
• Sleep disturbances (74%)
• Overwhelming Powerlessness (75%)
• Flashbacks/Intrusive recollections (55%)
• Fatigue (55%)
• Weight fluctuation (48%)
• Headaches (47%)
• Reduced social outings (70%)
• Reduction in work/school attendance (53%)
• Relocation (39%)
• Change in workplace, school, or career (37%)
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56. Stalking Assessment
• Stalking Risk Profile: Guidelines for the Assessment and
Management of Stalkers (SRP)
• Stalking Assessment and Management (SAM)
– Above 18 years
– 30 factors into 3 domains
• Nature of Stalking
• Perpetrator Risk,
• Victim Vulnerability
– rationale behind this is to understand the motivations and
seriousness of the stalking behaviour, as well as which type of
stalker the perpetrator may be
– Overall ratings based on professional judgement / actuarial
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57. Response to Management Strategies
• INTIMACY SEEKERS - Assertive psychiatric mx – address social isolation
– Resistant to judicial sanctions
• REJECTED STALKERS – many persuaded to stop by fines or incarceration
– Child custody disputes / MJ requires intervention
• INCOMPETENT STALKERS – abandon with relative ease – social skills training
– Challenge is to prevent them from choosing others
• RESENTFUL STALKERS – difficult to engage in Rx
– Legal punishment inflame their sense of grievance
• PREDATORY STALKERS – criminal justice issue + Rx paraphilias
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58. Stalking Management
• Find motivation for stalking
• Look for psychiatric dx in stalker
• Address substance misuse
• Explore factors sustaining the behaviour
• Confront self deceptions that justify the behaviour
• Improve interpersonal and social skills
• Address victims psychological status and teaching empathy for victim
• Treat individually; group therapies as they build supportive networks
• Draw attention to consequences of behaviour
• Provide face saving exit (preserve reputation/ dignity/ credibility)
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59. Do the protective measures work or stop
the stalker?
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60. The criminal laws and offences principally employed
to prosecute stalking-related conduct
• The use of these laws to punish stalking would require multiple
prosecutions of the offender
• misdemeanour offences for trespass or malicious communications – fine
(unlikely to dissuade most stalkers or afford the victim any protection)
• anti-harassment laws such as menacing require an immediate threat of
violence against the victim - not applicable to many stalking situations
where threats are rarely explicit but rather implicit in the course of continued
following or surveillance
• restraining or non-molestation orders - onus is on the victim - sufficient
evidence of an imminent threat against his or her physical safety - notorious
difficulty of enforcing them
In practice these orders do little to abate stalking and frequently
serve to intensify the anger and determination of the perpetrator,
and precipitate an escalation to violence (Mullen & Pathé, 1994)
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61. Anti Stalking law (1990)
• Criminal justice intervention was all too often stalled until the stalker ‘did
something’ – gap in the law
• After Rebecca Schaeffer’s murder - public outcry and media pressure and
the murders of four women from Orange County, California world’s first anti-
stalking statute in California
• stimulated public demand for specific laws prohibiting stalking
• The California legislature passed the bill in September 1990, defining the
offence of stalking as,
“any person who wilfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows or
harasses another person and who makes a credible threat with the
intent to place that person in reasonable fear of death or great bodily
harm…”
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62. • “Harasses” was defined as:
“a knowing and wilful course of conduct directed at a
specific person which seriously alarms, annoys or harasses
the person, and which serves no legitimate purpose. The
course of conduct must be such as would cause a
reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress,
and must actually cause substantial emotional distress to
the person.
“Course of conduct” means a pattern of conduct composed
of a series of acts over a period of time, however short,
evidencing a continuity of purpose. Constitutionally
protected activity is not included within the meaning of
course of conduct.”
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63. • Misdemeanour Stalking is punished by
– a term of up to one year in a county jail,
– a fine of up to $1,000 or
– both a fine and imprisonment
• But Stalking also is punishable as part of California's “Three Strikes” sentencing
regime. If you're convicted of Felony Stalking, the penalty, without additional
enhancement, may be
– up to three years in a state prison,
– a fine of up to $10,000, or
– both a fine and imprisonment
• Note that if you accrue three “strikes” on your record you will serve at least 25
years in a state prison.
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64. SUMMARY
• Defining stalker types is the first step toward the larger goal of creating
effective treatment strategies
• risk management instruments for stalking assessment are in their infancy
• currently no prospective studies that have examined different treatment
options in managing the stalking situation
• Options include legal, psychotherapeutic, psychopharmacologic, and
physical barrier-based methods
• In certain cases, interventions such as therapy and psychotropic drugs are
essential
• However, other stalking situations are best managed through legal means
including protection orders and incarceration of offenders
• Ideally, law enforcement agencies and mental health professionals would
work in concert to prevent negative outcomes in stalking situations and
prevent stalking recidivism
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65. Referrences
• Mullen PE, Pathé M, Purcell R, Stuart GW. Study of stalkers. Am J
Psychiatry. 1999 Aug;156(8):1244-9. doi: 10.1176/ajp.156.8.1244. PMID:
10450267.
• Racine C, Billick S. Classification systems for stalking behavior. J Forensic
Sci. 2014 Jan;59(1):250-4. doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.12262. Epub 2013 Aug
23. PMID: 23980606.
• Purcell R, Pathé M, Mullen PE. Stalking: defining and prosecuting a new
category of offending. Int J Law Psychiatry. 2004 Mar-Apr;27(2):157-69.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2004.01.006. PMID: 15063640.
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66. THANK YOU
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