This aspect of trying something different can be very hard for stalking perpetrators. But the relief or high that they get from stalking dissipates quickly. How are your relationships?
What do you do when you have the urge? What skill do you use? This treatment also needs to be accessible and affordable, however. Walker says he finds himself tormented by his own urge to connect. And for all the shit I need to do, like start exercising and actively improving my attitude, I still need people. Sign In Create Account. Illustration by Michelle Thompson. The Psychology Behind Stalking. But people who engage in stalking actually vary far more widely that you'd expect. December 13, , pm.
Dominique Sisley. None of the male respondents indicated physical harm or sexual abuse. The stalking campaign was characterized by different behaviors see Table 1. The physical and emotive consequences that characterized the stalking campaigns are in Table 2. The physical consequence was significantly related to both state and trait anxiety symptoms Table 4. To cope with the stalking campaign, victims adopted different strategies Table 5. Similar to the sample of females, all the males adopted at least one strategy of the moving against type.
The aim of this work was to compare female and male HCP victims of domestic violence and stalking. The findings showed that, for the most part, the victims experienced stalking by a stalker who was not of the same gender, confirming that the phenomenon is most frequently inter-gender, particularly when the victim was a female Sheridan et al.
Moreover, the nature of the relationship was romantic for the most part for victims, both female and male, suggesting that the principal motivation of stalking was the disruption of an intimate relationship Tassy and Winstead, Regarding the domestic violence, females described the phenomenon from a different perspective, indicating the verbal, physical, and sexual abuse, while males indicated only the verbal abuse.
These findings did not support those from investigations of male victims of domestic violence by Drijber et al.
Interestingly, in our sample, male victims of stalking were more prone to experience unwanted written communication than females. This confirmed that female stalkers tend to adopt more behaviors that permit them to be connected with their victims Purcell et al. The duration of the stalking campaigns was similar in both females and males, with a little longer duration in males; as suggested by Meloy and Boyd , female stalkers are more patient and tough. Male victims are also more prone than females to express anger with their stalkers, though they did not reach threshold values from the psychopathological point of view.
This finding confirmed that the expression of this feeling especially behaviorally is culturally associated with men Simon and Nath, From the screening for depression, BDI emerged that the discouragement did not prevail for the most part in either male or female victims.
However, females tend to amplify, more than males, depression, state, and trait anxiety in particular the moderate level of trait anxiety. The expression of anxiety symptoms was also seen through the body; indeed, females experienced somatic and cognitive such as confusion symptoms. Moreover, in females, there was a higher influence of the victimization in some cognitive aspects that could have had an impact on work efficiency, on the ability to apply social and organizational rules Acquadro Maran et al.
The anxiety and the somatization were evident, for example, in the higher percentage of sleep disturbances in female. Even if all symptoms were expressed in both females and males, in males a lack of confidence in their body and of their emotional literacy makes the expression of distress in each channel, such as emotive and cognitive more difficult. At the same time, the expression of anxiety presented in women is permitted to become progressively less victimized over time; depression and anxiety permitted the recognition of these symptoms as signs of distress and to intervene to reduce them Spence-Diehl, An interesting finding was in regard to the coping strategies.
Victims, both female and male, involved in this investigation confirmed that the coping strategy of moving away was the most used in this population Acquadro Maran et al. However, our findings suggested that when harassment behavior increased, the number of coping strategies adopted by the victims decreased. An explanation could be in the fatigue resulting from coping with repetitive and intrusive behavior that distress the victim Davis et al. This result was not in accordance with Spitzberg et al.
According to Davis and Frieze , the link between coping strategies and the stalking campaign needs attention from scholars; the adoption of an appropriate coping strategy e. In particular, in HCP victims of stalking, the urgency to intervene is linked to the need to limit the consequence of the stalking campaign, in order to be efficient and effective at work.
There were, of course, limitations to this study. First, since the sample was non-randomly selected, the results should be taken with caution and should not be generalized. Moreover, the sexual orientation of the stalker and victim was not investigated; thus, comparisons between heterosexual and non-heterosexual individuals were not made.
Studies that had directly assessed the stalking campaign based on sexual orientation found that men were more likely to engage in a stalking campaign at the end of a relationship than women were Derlega et al. Future research should investigate the psychological impact in HCPs who are victims of stalking and domestic violence and caring for victims of stalking and domestic violence.
At least one other limitation was in reference to the domestic violence experience. Our work was based on the more well-known categorization of domestic violence [physical, sexual, emotive — see World Health Organization [WHO], and Garcia-Moreno et al.
We suggest that future studies examine the experience of domestic violence and its link with sexual orientation and stalking victimization in a more comprehensive way. As argued by Sheridan et al. Despite these limitations, we hope this study offers interesting insights and suggests implications for HCPs and the organization in which they are working.
First, attention is generally focused on female victims of domestic violence and stalking. This study highlights, one more time, the importance of considering men as potential victims of domestic violence and stalking Tarzia et al. The indication is that HCPs, and the entire health care system, need to improve their ability to recognize the signs of victimization in men, to provide more suitable intervention for individuals e.
Moreover, the auspice is to consider HCPs not only as providers of care in victims of domestic violence and stalking but also as potential victims themselves. For HCP victims of domestic violence and stalking, due to the nature of their work, it could be more difficult to admit the victimization, particularly when the nature of experiencing violence is intimate.
At the same time, the perceived contradiction of being victims and providers of care in victimization cases Guldimann et al. In HCP victims, the experience could result in a reluctance to seek support, with a consequently prolonged exposure to the stalking campaign and its effect on well-being. Finally, health care organizations e.
Prevention programs include, for example, information courses on the phenomena e. Health care organizations should also offer individual measures, such as intervention programs, counseling, and psychological help, to reflect on victimization experiences. Future research should look to replicate — with a larger sample — the current analyses to test the psychological impact of the different forms of domestic violence in HCPs victims of stalking.
All subjects gave written informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The protocol was approved by the Hospital administrations and local guarantee committees evaluated, endorsed, and authorized the research, allowing researchers to use the data for scientific purposes.
DAM and AV substantially contributed to the conception or design of the work or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of the data for the work. DAM and AV drafted the work or revised it critically for important intellectual content. DAM and AV made the final approval of the version to be published. DAM and AV prepared the agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. Abrams, K. Acquadro Maran, D. Violence Vict. Stress among Italian male and female patrol police officers: a quali-quantitative survey. Policing 37, — Health care professionals as victims of stalking: characteristics of the stalking campaign, consequences and motivation in Italy.
Violence 32, — Workplace violence toward hospital staff and volunteers: a survey of an Italian sample. Trauma 27, 76— Amar, A. Coping with stalking. Issues Ment. Health Nurs. Ashmore, R. Beck, A. An inventory for measuring depression. Psychiatry 4, — Bennett Cattaneo, L. Describing intimate partner stalking over time: an effort to inform victim-centered service provision. Violence 26, — Collins, S. Working with the psychological effects of trauma: consequences for mental health-care workers—a literature review.
Cupach, W. Google Scholar. Davis, K. Physical and mental health effects of being stalked for men and women. Research on stalking: what do we know and where do we go? PubMed Abstract Google Scholar. De Fazio, L. The legal situation on stalking among the European member States. Dennison, S. Interpersonal relationships and stalking: identifying when to intervene. Law Hum. Derlega, V. Unwanted pursuit in same-sex relationships: effects of attachment styles, investment model variables, and sexual minority stressors.
Partner Abuse 2, — Douglas, K. Assessing the link between stalking and domestic violence. Violent Behav.
Dressing, H. Lifetime prevalence and impact of stalking in a European population: epidemiological data from a middle-sized German city. Psychiatry , — Drijber, B. Male victims of domestic violence. Violence 28, — Ferreira, C. Sleep disturbance was common, and many resorted to substance abuse. Over half had symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder.
Feelings of powerlessness and depression were common, and nearly a quarter of the victims were actively considering suicide as a means of escape. Similar levels of distress and disturbance were reported in Hall's study Several classifications of victims have been proposed, usually on the basis of the stalker's relationship to them Fremouw et al. Harmon and colleagues , for example, separated prior relationships into personal, professional, employment, media, acquaintance or none. Personal victims are most likely to be stalked by an ex-partner.
These victims often reported having been subjected to domestic violence prior to the end of the relationship Tjaden and Thoennes, They are typically exposed to a wide range of harassments and are the most likely to be assaulted Harmon et al. Professional victims such as health care providers, lawyers and teachers, who come into contact with the lonely, the inadequate and the aggrieved are particularly vulnerable.
When stalking first emerged as an issue, it was thought to be a problem peculiar to celebrities. Now it is recognized that virtually anyone can fall victim to a stalker. Zona et al. They suggested a low risk of overt violence, with only two out of 74 stalkers physically assaulting their victims. The majority of stalkers who threatened their victims subsequently acted upon their stated intentions.
Mullen et al. These studies are based on samples of stalkers. Victims, however, are in our view the most reliable source of information about intimidation, threats and violence. In addition, 11 subjects were kidnapped and two were victims of arson attacks. Assault was significantly more likely for victims who had had a former intimate relationship with the stalker. Meloy , concluded that approximately half of all stalkers threaten the victim.
The majority of those who threaten do not proceed to subsequent violence. Nonetheless, threats should be taken seriously, as those who proceed to assault have usually threatened previously. Violence occurs in approximately a third of the cases, yet rarely results in serious physical injury.
There have been several attempts to describe the different types of stalker Harmon et al. No generally accepted classification has yet emerged. The first axis was a typology derived primarily from the stalker's motivation, the second from the prior relationship to the victim, and the third a division into nonpsychotic and psychotic subjects. This attempted to capture the stalker's behavior in terms of both motivation and the needs and desires the stalking itself satisfies.
They described five subtypes:. The rejected used the widest range of behaviors, such as following, repeatedly approaching, telephoning, letter-writing and leaving notes. In contrast, the predatory stalkers concentrated almost exclusively on furtively following and maintaining surveillance.
Intimacy seekers were the most prolific letter-writers, and they also sent the most unsolicited gifts and other materials. Duration was longest in the rejected and intimacy seekers and shortest in the predatory.
The psychotic subjects were most likely to send unsolicited materials, and the nonpsychotic to follow and maintain surveillance. The psychotic and nonpsychotic were equally likely to threaten, but the nonpsychotic were twice as likely to proceed to assault.
The rejected were the most likely type to assault and the resentful, although often issuing threats, were the least likely to resort to overt violence. The best predictor of stalking duration was typology. Also best predicted by typology were assaults. When assaults were combined with substance abuse and a history of prior convictions, they accounted for most of the explained variance.
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