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Research suggests a Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S) is defined by the recurrent perception of anomalous subjective and objective events. Occurrences are traditionally attributed to supernatural agencies, but we argue that such interpretations have morphed into themes of “surveillance and stalking” in group-stalking reports. We tested a series of related hypotheses by re-analyzing survey data from the 2015 Sheridan and James study to explore statistical patterns in “delusional” group-stalking accounts (N=128) versus“non-delusional” (control) accounts of lone-culprit stalking (N=128). As expected, we found that (i) account types had different Rasch hierachies, (ii) the Rasch hierarchy of group-stalking experiences showed a robust unidimensional model, and (iii) this group-stalking hierarchy correlated significantly with spontanous “ghost“ experiences. However, we found no clear evidence for “event clustering” that might signify contagious processes in symptom perception. Findings support the viability of the HP-S construct and the idea that experiences of group-stalking and haunts share common sources.

Although the prevalence and associated features of stalking are well known in some countries, in many others, including Portugal, the experiences of stalking victims have remained unexplored until recently. This study aimed to identify the prevalence, characteristics, and impact of stalking victimization within a Portuguese population. A national community sample (N = 1210) took part in face-to-face interviews based on the Stalking Victimization Inventory. Lifetime prevalence of stalking was 19.5%. The type of relationship between the victim and the stalker was one of the main predictors of stalking diversity and duration (the closer the relationship, the greater the diversity and duration). The stalking impact was higher in victims that experienced more diverse stalking behaviours and fear. We also concluded that fear and impact mediate the relationship between stalking diversity and helpseeking. Results demonstrate that stalking victimization significantly affects the Portuguese population.

Stalkers can be violent, and empirical studies have sought to identify factors associated with violence perpetrated by the stalker. Most of these works view physical violence as a homogeneous construct and do not differentiate between moderate and severe violence. The present study aims to identify correlates of nonviolent, moderate, and severe physical violence within an archival sample of 369 domestically violent police incident reports, where stalking behavior was indicated. The incident reports utilized in this study occurred between 2013 and 2017, among intimate or ex-intimate partners. The present study explored 12 independent variables that have yielded mixed findings in previous stalking violence literature, as well as two previously untested factors of nonfatal strangulation and child contact. The police records were coded for severity of physical violence using the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale and analyzed using a logistic regression. The regression analysis revealed significant independent associations between the outcome variable of severe physical violence and child contact, history of domestic violence, separation, nonfatal strangulation, jealousy, previous injury, and victim belief of potential harm. These results may help produce pragmatic recommendations for law enforcement agencies and other relevant bodies who seek to identify victims at risk of severe violence, increasing the potential for early intervention and prevention of physical harm. The awareness of factors that are shown to be related to serious physical violence may assist first responders in recognizing which victims may be at risk of serious harm, as well as effectively allocating any appropriate resources to reduce and prevent harm.

© 2019 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology. Strangulation is different to other types of physical violence as it often leaves no visible injuries and is frequently motivated by coercive control. Few studies have explored nonfatal strangulation and coercive control, and no studies have explored these factors within a sample of stalkers. Given that stalking perpetrators exhibit many of the coercively controlling behaviors related to nonfatal strangulation, the current study explored nonfatal strangulation and other coercively controlling behaviors in a stalking sample. A police dataset of 9,884 cases of domestic violence that involved stalking was analyzed. Results revealed that coercive control and related behaviors of excessive jealousy, victim isolation, victim fear, and victim’s belief that the perpetrator will kill them were associated with higher likelihood of having experienced nonfatal strangulation. These results may help first responders to identify victims at risk of nonfatal strangulation and suggest a need for nonfatal strangulation to be a criminal offense.

Previous studies have compared perceptions and experiences of intrusive activity and stalking between countries and the present work compares subcultures within a single country. Singaporean women (89 Chinese, 69 Indian and 68 Malay) with similar age profiles completed a modified version of the ‘Stalking: International perceptions and prevalence’ questionnaire (SIPPQ). This contained measures of individual perceptions and experiences of a range of 47 intrusive behaviors, and a measure of stalking. Between the three ethnic groups, few differences were found in terms of how unacceptable the 47 intrusive acts were judged to be. The small number of differences identified related to courtship behaviors. Women across ethnicities reported largely the same experiences of intrusive behaviors, differing on just two of the 47 behaviors. This suggests that overarching national attitudes towards women are better determinants of the types of intrusive behaviors they are likely to experience, as opposed to their subculture. Finally, no differences were found in stalking rates between the three ethnic groups, but the overall stalking rate within the sample was high at 54.9%. This finding may provide impetus to increase awareness of stalking in Singapore, given that it was only recently criminalized in the sovereign city–state.

The present study examines the influence of prior relationship (with contextual information regarding the breakdown of the relationship) and perpetrator-target sex composition on perceptions of relational stalking. The study employed an experimental 7 × 2 independent measures design, and the sample comprised 1,260 members of the community residing in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Participants received one of 14 versions of a hypothetical scenario and responded to scale items concerning the situation described. The situation was perceived to be most serious when the perpetrator was a stranger or a physically violent ex-partner and least serious when the perpetrator was an ex-partner of an unfaithful target. Scenarios involving a male perpetrator and a female victim were also perceived to be more serious than scenarios involving a female perpetrator and a male target. It is apparent therefore that the context of the relationship breakdown and the sex of the perpetrator and target significantly influence perceptions of relational stalking.

The circumplex model of affect claims that emotions can be understood in terms of their relative positions along two dimensions, namely pleasant-unpleasant and active-sleepy; and numerous studies of small samples of music have yielded data consistent with this. The present research tests whether the energy and beats per minute (proxies for the arousal dimension) and popularity as expressed in terms of sale charts (a possible proxy for the pleasantness dimension) could predict scores on six moods in 143,353 musical pieces. Findings concerning energy were clearly consistent with the circumplex model; findings for beats per minute were consistent though more equivocal; and findings concerning popularity yielded only limited support. Numerous relationships between popularity and mood were indicative of the commercial market for specific genres; and evidence demonstrated considerable differences in the mood scores between genres. In addition to the circumplex model and aesthetic responses, the findings have implications for music marketing, therapy, and everyday listening.

Most studies of stalking are conducted with samples from individualist cultures. Little is known about the phenomenon within collectivist cultures. The present study is arguably the first stalking study conducted in Hong Kong. Specifically, this study investigates a large sample of Asian college students’ (N = 2,496) perceptions of stalking behavior, potential reasons for stalking, and coping strategies that may be employed by stalking victims. Associations between these variables and gender and culture (Hong Kong vs. Mainland China) were also explored. Gender was more strongly associated with perceptions of stalking behavior than was culture. Gender was less strongly associated with perceptions concerning motivations for stalking and the effectiveness of coping strategies that may be employed by stalking victims than was culture. Effect sizes for all associations with culture were small, perhaps due to a high degree of similarity between the two cultures examined. The findings are generally supportive of similar results produced by previous work conducted within individualistic Western cultures, suggesting that stalking and the way that it is perceived may be universal in nature. This study concludes with the argument that legislation against stalking needs to be extended to non-Western countries, such as Hong Kong and Mainland China, as antistalking laws are relatively scarce outside Western industrialized countries.

Research on musical preference has been dominated by two approaches emphasizing, respectively, the arousal-evoking qualities of a piece or its typicality of the individual's overall musical experience. There is a dearth of evidence concerning whether either can explain preference in conditions of high ecological validity. To address this, the present research investigated the association between sales of 143,353 pieces of music, representing all the music that has enjoyed any degree of commercial success in the United Kingdom, and measures of both the energy of each piece (as a proxy for arousal) and the extent to which each piece was typical of the corpus. The relationship concerning popularity and energy was U-shaped, which can be reconciled with earlier findings, and there was a positive relationship between the typicality of the pieces and the amount of time they featured on sales charts. The population-level popularity of an entire corpus of music across several decades can be predicted by existing aesthetic theories, albeit with modifications to account for market conditions.

The present research conducted a computerised analysis of the content of all lyrics from the United Kingdom’s weekly top 5 singles sales charts (Study 1, 1962–2011), and considered their macroeconomic correlates (Study 2, 1960–2011). Study 1 showed that coverage of interpersonal relationships consistently reflected a self-centred and unsophisticated approach; coverage of violence featured predominantly anti-authoritarian denial rather than overt depictions; and more recent lyrics were more stimulating. Study 2 showed no evidence that variations in lyrical optimism predicted future variations in economic optimism and subsequently Gross Domestic Product; but, consistent with the environmental security hypothesis, economic turbulence (defined as volatility in the closing price of the London Stock Exchange) was associated with the later popularity of lyrics concerning certainty and succour. These findings are discussed in terms of the advantages and limitations of computerised coding of lyrics.

Music congruity effects on consumer behavior are conceptualized in terms of cognitive priming of semantic networks in memory, and operationalized as congruent with a product's country of origin (Experiment 1), or congruent with the utilitarian (Experiment 2) or social identity (Experiments 2 and 3) connotations of a product. Hearing a specific genre of music (e.g., classical) activates related concepts in memory (e.g., expensive, sophisticated, formal, educated), which influences the memory for, perception of, and choice of products. Consistent with this account of music congruity effects, three laboratory experiments show that playing music of a specific genre during initial product exposure improved subsequent recall of conceptually related (i.e., congruent) products compared to unrelated products (Experiment 1), affected product choice in favor of congruent products (Experiment 1), and affected how much participants were willing to pay for congruent products (Experiments 2 and 3).

The present research employed a mixed-methods approach and quasi-experimental design to examine perceptions and experiences of intrusive behavior (comprising 47 individual intrusive activities) within individuals identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, or queer (LGBTIQ) with a matched (in terms of age, sex, and income) sample of individuals identifying as heterosexual (N = 214). Despite only minor differences between the LGBTIQ and heterosexual groups concerning perceptions of the acceptability of intrusive behavior, the LGBTIQ group was more likely to report experiencing a range of individual intrusive activities and to report experiencing stalking victimization (self-reported rates of 35.5% vs. 15.0%). Participant sex and personal experience of being stalked were minimally associated with perceptions of the acceptability of intrusive behavior. Sexual orientation significantly predicted whether a person had experienced stalking victimization, whereas participant sex did not. The qualitative analysis revealed that the two groups shared some experiences of intrusive behavior, whereas others represented a unique subset of intrusions that related to sexual orientation.

© 2014, © The Author(s) 2014. The present study examines the influence of prior relationship on perceptions of relational stalking in the context of both opposite- and same-sex scenarios using community samples from Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The study used a quasi-experimental 3 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 (prior relationship × perpetrator sex × target sex × participant sex × country) independent measures design. Participants comprised 2,160 members of the community, each receiving 1 of 12 versions of a hypothetical scenario and responding to scale items concerning the situation described. The findings support previous research, with scenarios involving a stranger (rather than an acquaintance or ex-partner), and scenarios involving a male perpetrator and a female target, being considered the most serious. The findings further indicate that female observers identify more closely with the role of the victim and male observers identify more closely with the role of the perpetrator, regardless of victim and perpetrator sex, and that differences in the findings across the three countries may be affected by location to a small but significant degree.

© 2015. Music congruity effects on consumer behavior are conceptualized in terms of cognitive priming of semantic networks in memory, and operationalized as congruent with a product's country of origin (Experiment 1), or congruent with the utilitarian (Experiment 2) or social identity (Experiments 2 and 3) connotations of a product. Hearing a specific genre of music (e.g., classical) activates related concepts in memory (e.g., expensive, sophisticated, formal, educated), which influences the memory for, perception of, and choice of products. Consistent with this account of music congruity effects, three laboratory experiments show that playing music of a specific genre during initial product exposure improved subsequent recall of conceptually related (i.e., congruent) products compared to unrelated products (Experiment 1), affected product choice in favor of congruent products (Experiment 1), and affected how much participants were willing to pay for congruent products (Experiments 2 and 3).

© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The present study provides international comparisons of young women's (N=1,734) self-reported experiences of intrusive activities enacted by men. Undergraduate psychology students from 12 countries (Armenia, Australia, England, Egypt, Finland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Scotland, and Trinidad) indicated which of 47 intrusive activities they had personally experienced. Intrusive behavior was not uncommon overall, although large differences were apparent between countries when women's personal experiences of specific intrusive activities were compared. Correlations were carried out between self-reported intrusive experiences, the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), and Hofstede's dimensions of national cultures. The primary associations were between women's experiences of intrusive behavior and the level of power they are afforded within the 12 countries. Women from countries with higher GEM scores reported experiencing more intrusive activities relating to courtship and requests for sex, while the experiences of women from countries with lower GEM scores related more to monitoring and ownership. Intrusive activities, many of them constituent of harassment and stalking, would appear to be widespread and universal, and their incidence and particular form reflect national level gender inequalities.

Research examining stalking with public figure and community samples overlap but have developed separately as a consequence of different focal points. It has been demonstrated that if ex-intimates are removed from analyses, research using public figure and community stalker samples can produce very similar findings. The present study examines whether 5 independent variables previously identified as predictors of stalker approach in public figure samples (Meloy et al., 2011) were related to stalker approach within a self-defined community sample of stalking victims (N = 1,440). These variables have been found to predict stalker approach within public figure and community stalker samples. None predicted stalker approach in the present study. Our sample differed from earlier samples in important ways, recording far lower rates of serious mental disorder in stalkers and including stalkers who were not apprehended by police and/or referred to forensic mental health services. In addition, research examining stalking using public figure samples categorizes attempted approaches as approaches whereas the present study used a more literal classification. It is concluded that findings from research within a public figure context cannot simply be extrapolated to a community context. Caution must be applied, and the nature of the base sample appears to dictate the transferability of findings.

© 2015 Taylor & Francis. Stalking primarily concerns the actions of individuals. However, some victims report stalking by organised groups, this being known as ‘group-’ or ‘gang-stalking’. This phenomenon has not been subject to systematic study. An anonymous questionnaire was completed online by self-defined victims of stalking. One thousand and forty respondents met research definitions for stalking, of which 128 (12.3%) reported group-stalking. One hundred and twenty-eight individually stalked cases were randomly selected as a comparison group. All cases of reported group-stalking were found likely to be delusional, compared with 3.9% of individually stalked cases. There were highly significant differences between the two groups on most parameters examined. The group-stalked scored more highly on depressive symptoms, post-traumatic symptomatology and adverse impact on social and occupational functioning. Group-stalking appears to be delusional in basis, but complainants suffer marked psychological and practical sequelae. This is important in assessment of risk in stalking cases, early referral to psychiatric services and allocation of police resources.

© 2014, © 2014 Taylor & Francis. The present study investigated male perceptions and personal experiences of ‘unwanted attention’ (UA), as well as possible associations between perceptions and personal experiences of UA. Ninety-one male college students, from five Portuguese universities, were asked to indicate which of a continuum of 47 behaviours represented UA. Although UA, stalking and harassment are rarely addressed in Portugal, male college students shared a clear understanding of what behaviours constituted UA, with the identification of four main categories of UA behaviours: ‘aggressive’, ‘threatening’, ‘classic’ and ‘dysfunctional attachment’. Almost all participants (96%) reported personal experiences of at least one UA behaviour. There was a minimal relationship between perceptions and personal experiences of the individual behaviours. The findings highlight the widespread risk of male victimisation and the need to legitimise male complaints.

Purpose: Research has demonstrated that certain relational biases exist within perceptions of stalking. One such bias concerns the perception that ex-partner stalkers are less dangerous than those who target strangers or acquaintances despite applied research suggesting the opposite. Method: In all, 135 police officers in England (where stalking has been outlawed since 1997) and 127 police officers in Scotland (where stalking has been outlawed since 2010) responded to vignettes describing a stalking scenario in which the perpetrator and victim were portrayed as strangers, acquaintances, or ex-partners. Results: Although typical relational biases existed in both samples, Scottish police officers were less susceptible to these biases than English police officers. Victim responsibility mediated the relation between prior relationship and perceptions of stalking for the English, but not the Scottish, police officers. Conclusions: Future work should examine whether these biases may be found in other areas of the criminal justice system, and how far they are influenced by policy, practice, and training.

Most stalking literature reports on male stalkers and female victims. This work examinesstalking experiences in 4 sex dyads: male stalker–female victim, female stalker–male victim,female–female dyads, and male–male dyads. Respondents were 872 self-defined victims ofstalking from the United Kingdom and the United States who completed an anonymoussurvey. The study variables covered the process of stalking, effects on victims and third parties,and victim responses to stalking. Approximately 10% of comparisons were significant,indicating that sex of victim and stalker is not a highly discriminative factor in stalkingcases. Female victims of male stalkers were most likely to suffer physical and psychologicalconsequences. Female victims reported more fear than males did, and most significantdifferences conformed to sex role stereotypes. Earlier work suggested stalker motivation andprior victim–stalker relationship as important variables in analyses of stalking, but these didnot prove significant in this work, perhaps because of sampling differences.

Few data exist concerning older and younger stalkers. This study compares 3 age groups of stalker [aged 16 or under (n = 19), aged 17–59 (n = 1,499), aged 60 or over (n = 86)] on 83 variables pertaining to demographics, the stalking process, the impact of stalking, and victim and third party responses. Self-defined victims of stalking provided the data. Just 11 of the variables differed significantly by age group. All 3 age groups were equally violent. Older victims of stalking were doubly disadvantaged, however, in that they were most likely to be injured by their stalkers but least likely to be taken seriously. The nature of the stalking behaviors and the negative impact of stalking was equal across the 3 age groups. Motivations for stalking would appear to reflect the age-related contexts in which stalking takes place. Stalking and stalking victimization would appear to be partially but not wholly limited by age

This study investigates the influence of prior relationship and severity of behavior on perceptions of stalking and responsibility with a combined sample of 1,080 members of the community from Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Participants were presented with 1 of 12 versions of a hypothetical stalking scenario and responded to scale items regarding the behavior of a male perpetrator toward a female target. Prior relationship and severity of behavior influenced perceptions of stalking and responsibility, and the pattern of findings was consistent across the three countries. The perpetrator’s behavior was perceived to constitute stalking, and necessitate police intervention and a criminal conviction to the greatest extent when the perpetrator and target were portrayed as strangers. In addition, the target was perceived to be the least responsible and the perpetrator was perceived to be the most responsible when they were portrayed as strangers.

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.

There is a general belief that stranger stalkers present the greatest threat to the personal safety of victims, despite national victimisation surveys and applied research demonstrating that ex-partner stalkers are generally more persistent and violent. The just-world hypothesis offers a possible explanation for this apparent contradiction. The current research used nine hypothetical scenarios, administered to 328 university students, to investigate the assumptions that underlie attributions of responsibility in cases of stalking. It explores whether these assumptions are consistent with the proposed mechanisms of the just-world hypothesis, and whether they vary according to the nature of the perpetrator–victim relationship and conduct severity. Thematic analysis revealed that the victim was perceived to be more responsible for the situation when the perpetrator was portrayed as an ex-partner rather than a stranger or acquaintance. Furthermore, victims were perceived to be more responsible when the perpetrator’s behaviour was persistent and threatening. These findings are discussed in the context of the just-world hypothesis and related to the proposed mechanisms by which a person can reinterpret a situation so that the perceived injustice disappears.

This study investigates the influence of prior relationship and severity of behavior on perceptions of stalking and responsibility with a combined sample of 1,080 members of the community from Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Participants were presented with 1 of 12 versions of a hypothetical stalking scenario and responded to scale items regarding the behavior of a male perpetrator toward a female target. Prior relationship and severity of behavior influenced perceptions of stalking and responsibility, and the pattern of findings was consistent across the three countries. The perpetrator’s behavior was perceived to constitute stalking, and necessitate police intervention and a criminal conviction to the greatest extent when the perpetrator and target were portrayed as strangers. In addition, the target was perceived to be the least responsible and the perpetrator was perceived to be the most responsible when they were portrayed as strangers.

Research has demonstrated that the way in which questions are presented (i.e. framed) has the capacity to influence responses to subsequent questions. In the context of stalking, perception research has often been framed in terms of whether or not particular behaviours constitute stalking. The current research investigates whether the framing of the opening question (question frame), conduct severity and the perpetrator target relationship influence perceptions of stalking. Two studies employed experimental 3 3 independent factorial designs: one to examine question frame and conduct severity, the other to examine question frame and the perpetrator target relationship. Participants in both studies (total N 449) were presented with vignettes and asked to answer six questions relating to the behaviour described. Question frame was found to impact on the classification of behaviour, with a greater proportion of participants indicating that the behaviour represented harassment or stalking rather than an illegal act. Consistent with previous research, conduct severity and the perpetrator target relationship influenced perceptions of stalking. However, there was no evidence to suggest that the framing of the opening question influenced these perceptions. The implications of these findings for previous perception research are discussed.

One in every five women will experience stalking in their lifetime. Research suggests the lifetime prevalence rate ranges between 12% and 32% for among women and 4% and 17% among men. The majority of stalking victims have had some form of prior relationship with their stalker. The aim of the current study was to examine whether victim-offender relationship influences police officers' perception of a stalking event. Police officers (n = 132) and lay participants (n = 225) read one of three stalking scenarios where the nature of relationship between the victim and the stalker was manipulated to reflect an ex-intimate, work acquaintance, or stranger relationship. Results revealed that, for both samples, prior victim-offender relationship affected the extent to which the scenario was perceived to involve stalking behavior, with the stranger stalker scenario endorsed as most strongly constituting a case of stalking. Officer experience of stalking cases mitigated some prevalent stereotypical beliefs concerning stalking (e.g., victim responsibility). The findings suggest that further training is necessary to combat common misconceptions surrounding stalking. The importance of understanding how both lay and police responses are influenced by the perceived victim-offender relationship is discussed in relation to the development of public awareness campaigns and police officer training.

There is a general belief that stranger stalkers present the greatest threat to the personal safety of victims, despite national victimisation surveys and applied research demonstrating that ex-partner stalkers are generally more persistent and violent. The just-world hypothesis offers a possible explanation for this apparent contradiction. The current research used nine hypothetical scenarios, administered to 328 university students, to investigate the assumptions that underlie attributions of responsibility in cases of stalking. It explores whether these assumptions are consistent with the proposed mechanisms of the just-world hypothesis, and whether they vary according to the nature of the perpetrator–victim relationship and conduct severity. Thematic analysis revealed that the victim was perceived to be more responsible for the situation when the perpetrator was portrayed as an ex-partner rather than a stranger or acquaintance. Furthermore, victims were perceived to be more responsible when the perpetrator’s behaviour was persistent and threatening. These findings are discussed in the context of the just-world hypothesis and related to the proposed mechanisms by which a person can reinterpret a situation so that the perceived injustice disappears.

Research has demonstrated that the way in which questions are presented (i.e. framed) has the capacity to influence responses to subsequent questions. In the context of stalking, perception research has often been framed in terms of whether or not particular behaviours constitute stalking. The current research investigates whether the framing of the opening question (question frame), conduct severity and the perpetrator–target relationship influence perceptions of stalking. Two studies employed experimental 3×3 independent factorial designs: one to examine question frame and conduct severity, the other to examine question frame and the perpetrator–target relationship. Participants in both studies (total N=449) were presented with vignettes and asked to answer six questions relating to the behaviour described. Question frame was found to impact on the classification of behaviour, with a greater proportion of participants indicating that the behaviour represented harassment or stalking rather than an illegal act. Consistent with previous research, conduct severity and the perpetrator–target relationship influenced perceptions of stalking. However, there was no evidence to suggest that the framing of the opening question influenced these perceptions. The implications of these findings for previous perception research are discussed.

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.

One in every five women will experience stalking in their lifetime. Research suggests the lifetime prevalence rate ranges between 12% and 32% for among women and 4% and 17% among men. The majority of stalking victims have had some form of prior relationship with their stalker. The aim of the current study was to examine whether victim–offender relationship influences police officers’ perception of a stalking event. Police officers (n = 132) and lay participants (n = 225) read one of three stalking scenarios where the nature of relationship between the victim and the stalker was manipulated to reflect an ex-intimate, work acquaintance, or stranger relationship. Results revealed that, for both samples, prior victim–offender relationship affected the extent to which the scenario was perceived to involve stalking behavior, with the stranger stalker scenario endorsed as most strongly constituting a case of stalking. Officer experience of stalking cases mitigated some prevalent stereotypical beliefs concerning stalking (e.g., victim responsibility).The findings suggest that further training is necessary to combat common misconceptions surrounding stalking. The importance of understanding how both lay and police responses are influenced by the perceived victim–offender relationship is discussed in relation to the development of public awareness campaigns and police officer training.

While the findings concerning whether victim gender is associated with greater stalking consequences are equivocal, the literature is consistent that a prior victim-stalker relationship increases the severity of stalking victimization. The current study hypothesised that 1) this relationship would predict the psychological, physical, social, and economic consequences to victims, and that 2) fear may serve as a mediator of the impact of victim gender and prior relationship on the consequences of stalking. An international survey of 1,214 valid self-defined stalking victims reveals victim gender contributed to the psychological and physical consequences of stalking beyond the contribution of victim-perpetrator relationship. A more important predictor of these consequences and of social and economic consequences was fear, with women reporting greater levels than men. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

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.

Ex-partner stalkers are more persistent and dangerous than stranger stalkers, but are less likely to be convicted of an offence. This research considerswhether 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 expartner 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. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.

Stalkers can inflict severe injury upon and have been known to kill their victims. Based on the detailed responses of 1,565 stalking victims, a set of key questions was produced with the aim of increasing the opportunities of police officers to identify potentially dangerous stalkers. Despite marked methodological differences and the inclusion of a large number of variables, regression analyses for significant correlates for physical assault per se and for severe violence largely reflected the results of earlier works. For severe violence (n=136), the most important correlate was a high level of victim fear, suggesting that victims are adept at assessing their own risk of stalker violence. The set of 11 questions performed well on preliminary tests and is presented here. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Stalking behavior and victim-stalker relationship are often the principal known factors in a stalking case. Thus, they are of great importance when trying to identify factors contributing to stalking duration. The present study aims to identify distinct subgroups of stalking victims based on measures of behavioral stalking dimensions. These victim subgroups, stalking dimensions, and victim-stalker relationship are examined in relation to stalking duration. Using a sample of 137 university students, latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed five distinct victim subgroups based on stalker behavior dimensions: surveillance, low-profile, social lurker, wide scope, and baseline stalkers. The subgroups were significantly related to stalking duration and explained a considerable amount of the variance along with the stalking dimensions and victim-stalker relationship. Connections to stalking literature and utility of person-orientated methods in stalking research are discussed. © 2010 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.