Stalking Questions and Answers
What is Stalking?
The legal definition of stalking is defined primarily by state statutes.
While statutes vary, most define stalking as a course of conduct that
places a person in fear for their safety.
However, the term "stalking" is more commonly used to describe
specific kinds of behavior directed at a particular person, such as harassing
or threatening another person. But the variety of specific strategies
employed and behaviors displayed by stalkers are limited only by the creativity
and ingenuity of the stalkers themselves. Suffice it to say, virtually
any unwanted contact between a stalker and their victim which directly
or indirectly communicates a threat or places the victim in fear can generally
be referred to as stalking.
Is Stalking a New Phenomenon?
No -- the history of stalking behavior is as old as the history of human
relationships. Stalking has always been with us -- what is new is that,
until recently, it was never labeled as a separate and distinct class
of deviant behavior. Prior to its common usage and its subsequent designation
as a crime, stalking was referred to as harassment, annoyance or, in some
cases, simply as domestic violence.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, numerous high-profile cases involving
celebrities began to catch the attention of the media and public policy
leaders. Only then did such behavior begin to be described as "stalking."
Since then, stalking has become a common subject in the popular media.
With the advent of blockbuster films -- such as Fatal Attraction,
Cape Fear, and Sleeping with the Enemy -- and its coverage
by the news media, "stalking" has become a household word.
How Common is Stalking?
Unlike most violent crimes, law enforcement officials do not track the
incidences of stalking offenses as part of their normal crime reporting
process. Since there has been virtually no empirical data available, no
one knows just how common stalking cases are in the United States.
Best estimates indicate that as many as 200,000 Americans are currently
being stalked; moreover, 1 in 20 women will become targets of stalking
behavior at least once during their lifetimes. With the passage of the
1994 Crime Bill by the U.S. Congress, which mandated the tracking and
compilation of stalking crime statistics, experts will be able to determine
the prevalence of this crime for the first time.
Who Are Stalkers?
Demographically:
Stalking is a gender neutral crime, with both male and female perpetrators
and victims. However, most stalkers are men. Best statistics indicate
that 75-80 percent (75-80%) of all stalking cases involve men stalking
women. Most tend to fall into the young to middle-aged categories. Most
have above-average intelligence. Stalkers come from every walk of life
and every socio-economic background. Virtually anyone can be a stalker,
just as anyone can be a stalking victim.
Psychological and Behavioral
Profile of Stalkers:
Unfortunately, there is no single psychological or behavioral profile
for stalkers. In fact, many experts believe that every stalker is different,
making it very difficult not only to categorize their behavior, but doubly
difficult to devise effective strategies to cope with such behavior.
Forensic psychologists, who study criminal behavior, are just beginning
to examine the minds and motives of stalkers. These psychologists have
identified two broad categories of stalkers and stalking behavior -- "Love
Obsession" and "Simple Obsession."
Love Obsession Stalkers
This category is characterized by stalkers who develop a love obsession
or fixation on another person with whom they have no personal relationship.
The target may be only a casual acquaintance or even a complete stranger.
This category represents about 20-25 percent (20-25%) of all stalking
cases.
Stalkers who stalk celebrities and stars -- such as David Letterman, Jodie
Foster, and Madonna -- fall into the category of love obsessionists; however,
stalkers in this category also include those who develop fixations on
regular, ordinary people -- including co-workers, their aerobics instructor,
casual acquaintances or people they pass in the street.
The vast majority of love obsessional stalkers suffer from a mental disorder
-- often schizophrenia or paranoia. Regardless of the specific disorder,
nearly all display some delusional thought patterns and behaviors. Since
most are unable to develop normal personal relationships through more
conventional and socially acceptable means, they retreat to a life of
fantasy relationships with persons they hardly know, if at all. They invent
fictional stories -- complete with what is to them real-life scripts --
which cast their unwilling victims in the lead role as their own love
interest. They then attempt to act out their fictional plots in the real
world.
The woman who has stalked David Letterman for five years truly believes
she is his wife. She has been discovered on Mr. Letterman's property numerous
times, has been arrested driving his car and has even appeared at his
residence with her own child in tow -- each time insisting that she is
David Letterman's wife.
Love obsessional stalkers not only attempt to live out their fantasies,
but expect their victims to play their assigned roles as well. They believe
they can make the object of their affection love them. They desperately
want to establish a positive personal relationship with their victim.
When the victim refuses to follow the script or doesn't respond as the
stalker hopes, they may attempt to force the victim to comply by use of
threats and intimidation.
When threats and intimidation fail, some stalkers turn to violence. Some
decide that if they cannot be a positive part of their victim's life,
they will be part of their life in a negative way. Some even go so far
as to murder their victims in a twisted attempt to romantically link themselves
to their victim forever. This was the case with the man who shot and killed
Rebecca Schaffer, the young actress and star of the television show My
Sister Sam.
Simple Obsession Stalkers
This second category represents 70-80 percent (70-80%) of all stalking
cases and is distinguished by the fact that some previous personal or
romantic relationship existed between the stalker and the victim before
the stalking behavior began.
Virtually all domestic violence cases involving stalking fall under this
rubric, as do casual dating relationships (commonly referred to as Fatal
Attraction cases, named after the popular movie by the same title).
While this kind of stalker may or may not have psychological disorders,
all clearly have personality disorders. One forensic psychologist has
attempted to identify some of the common personality traits and behavioral
characteristics among this category of stalkers. Stalkers in this class
are characterized as individuals who are:
•
Socially
maladjusted and inept;
•
Emotionally
immature;
•
Often
subject to feelings of powerlessness;
•
Unable
to succeed in relationships by socially-acceptable means;
•
Jealous,
bordering on paranoid; and
•
Extremely
insecure about themselves and suffering from low self-esteem.
The self-esteem of simple obsession stalkers is often closely tied to
their relationship with their partner. In many cases, such stalkers bolster
their own self-esteem by dominating and intimidating their mates. Exercising
power over another gives them some sense of power in a world where they
otherwise feel powerless. In extreme cases, such personalities attempt
to control every aspect of their partner's life. This behavior pat-tern
was vividly depicted in the major motion picture entitled Sleeping with
the Enemy, where the antagonist turns to intimidation and violence as
the means to control every aspect of his victim/wife's life.
Since the victim literally becomes the stalker's primary source of self-esteem,
their greatest fear becomes the loss of this person. Their own self-worth
is so closely tied to the victim that when they are deprived of that person,
they may feel that their own life is without worth.
It is exactly this dynamic that makes simple obsession stalkers so dangerous.
In the most acute cases, such stalkers will literally stop at nothing
to regain their "lost possession" -- their partner -- and in
so doing, regain their lost self-esteem.
Just as with most domestic violence cases, stalkers are the most dangerous
when they are first deprived of their source of power and self-esteem;
in other words, the time when their victims determine to physically remove
themselves from the offender's presence on a permanent basis by leaving
the relationship.
Indeed, stalking cases which emerge from domestic violence situations
constitute the most common and potentially lethal class of stalking cases.
Domestic violence victims who leave an abusive relationship run a 75 percent
(75%) higher risk of being murdered by their partners.
Stalking behavior is as diverse as the stalkers themselves. Yet behavioral
experts are beginning to identify patterns in the cycle of violence displayed
by simple obsession stalkers.
Stalking Behavior Patterns and Cycles:
Stalking behavior patterns closely mirror those common in many domestic
violence cases. The pattern is usually triggered when the stalker's advances
toward their victim is frustrated -- regardless of whether the stalker
is seeking to establish a personal relationship or continue a previously
established relationship contrary to the wishes of the victim.
The stalker may attempt to woo their victim into a relationship by sending
flowers, candy and love letters, in an attempt to "prove their love."
However, when the victim spurns their unwelcome advances, the stalker
often turns to intimidation. Such attempts at intimidation often begin
in the form of an unjustified, jealous and inappropriate intrusion into
the victim's life. Often these contacts become more numerous and intrusive
over time, until such collective conduct becomes a persistent pattern
of harassment. Many times, harassing behavior escalates to threatening
behavior. Such threats may be direct or indirect and communicated explicitly
or implicitly by the stalker's conduct. Unfortunately, cases that reach
this level of seriousness too often end in violence and/or murder.
Stalkers, unable to establish or re-establish a relationship of power
and control over their victims, turn to violence as a means of reasserting
their domination over the victim. In some cases, offenders are even willing
to kill their victims and themselves in a last, desperate attempt to assert
their domination over the victim.
The evolution of the stalker's thought pattern progresses from, "If
I can just prove to you how much I love you," to "I can make
you love me," to "If I can't have you, nobody else will."
While this progression in behavior is common, no stalking case is completely
predictable. Some stalkers may never escalate past the first stage. Others
jump from the first stage to the last stage with little warning. Still
others regress to previous stages before advancing to the next. It is
not uncommon to see stalkers intersperse episodes of threats and violence
with flowers and love letters.
As difficult as it is to predict what a stalker might do, it is at least
as difficult to predict when he might do it. A few stalkers will progress
to later stages in only a few weeks or even days. In other cases, stalkers
who have engaged in some of the most serious stalking behaviors may go
months or even years without attempting a subsequent contact.
It is this unpredictability that makes developing an effective response
strategy so difficult in any particular stalking case. (See INFOLINK,
No. 47, "Stalking: Safety Plan Guidelines" for more information.)
Are There Laws that Make Stalking
a Crime?
While many states had laws prohibiting harassment and assault, it wasn't
until 1990 that California became the first state to pass a law which
specifically made stalking a crime. This law was passed in response to
several high-profile cases in which the perpetrator stalked and eventually
killed their victim. In each case, the victim had notified the police
of their stalker's threatening behavior. Yet, in each case, the police
said that unless the stalker acted on those threats, there was nothing
they could do legally.
The California law that for the first time outlawed stalking behavior
was intended to give law enforcement officers the legal tool they needed
to intervene in stalking cases before offenders acted upon their threats.
Since the passage of that first stalking law in 1990, all 50 states have
enacted stalking laws. While each state stalking statute differs in both
definition and approach, virtually all proscribe behavior that constitutes
a pattern of conduct seeking to harass and/or threaten the safety of another.
Some of these early statutes came under constitutional attack due to the
broad language used to describe stalking behavior. Some lower courts actually
struck down these laws in a handful of states causing lawmakers in those
states to re-draft their stalking statutes in order to cure such constitutional
defects. It was this concern over constitutionality that led Congress
to mandate the formation of a special drafting committee to develop a
model stalking code that would withstand any constitutional scrutiny.
The National Criminal Justice Association -- in conjunction with the National
Institute of Justice, the National Center for Victims of Crime, and numerous
other criminal justice and victim organizations and experts -- developed
a Final Report that included a model stalking statute. In short, the model
language makes it a crime to:
Engage in a course of conduct that would place a reasonable person in
fear for their safety, and that the stalker intended and did, in fact,
place the victim in such fear.
Beyond this basic definition of the crime, statutes include a wide variety
of additional stalking-related provisions. For example, some state stalking
statutes:
•
Allow
police to make warrantless arrests in stalking cases where probable cause
exists;
•
Make
stalking a non-bailable offense under certain circumstances;
•
Provide
for automatic and emergency protective orders;
•
Require
mandatory psychological evaluation and treatment for stalkers;
•
Establish
sentencing enhancements in cases where the victim is a minor, or when
there is a protective order in place against the perpetrator; and
•
Create
heightened crime classifications for stalkers who commit second stalking
offenses.
It is important for victims to obtain a copy of the stalking law in their
state to determine which of these special provisions are included in their
state's statute.
Apart from state statutes, stalking victims should be aware of the recently
passed federal legislation that makes it a crime to cross a state line
in order to stalk another. Federal anti-terrorism laws may also apply
in some stalking cases, allowing victims to bring charges in federal court
as an alternative to the state criminal court of their jurisdiction. These
laws may also prove useful in stalking cases where the offender makes
threatening phone calls from outside the state where the victim resides.
How are Stalking Laws Being Implemented?
Statutes that establish new crimes, such as stalking, are not universally
implemented or instantaneously enforced from the moment they take effect.
There is often a considerable lag time in implementing new statutes as
law enforcement officials, prosecutors and judges become familiar with
the law and develop policies and procedures to implement them.
Since stalking laws are fairly new, victims cannot always be certain that
law enforcement officials, prosecutors or even judges are aware of these
new laws. Stalking victims may find it necessary to provide law enforcement
officials with a copy of their state stalking statute, along with evidence
which proves the stalker has violated the statute. Copies of such statutes
can be found in your state's published criminal code, available in some
public libraries and all law libraries.
How Do I File a Complaint Under My State's Stalking
Statute?
To file a complaint that will trigger an arrest and prosecution, it must
be accompanied with sufficient evidence to establish "probable cause"
that the stalker engaged in conduct that is illegal under the state's
stalking statute. If law enforcement officials do not witness such conduct
first-hand, it is often up to the victim to provide them with the evidence
necessary to establish probable cause.
Again, victims would be well-advised to obtain a copy of their state's
stalking statute in order to gain a clear understanding of what conduct
constitutes an offense under the statute. While most state stalking statutes
are written in laymen's terms, the exact meaning of those terms is not
always clear. Victims may wish to consult with law enforcement officials,
prosecutors, or a private attorney for an explanation and interpretation
of the specific stalking statute in question.
In other words, stalking victims are often put in a position of having
to first prove their case to a law enforcement official before being afforded
the opportunity to prove their case before a court of law. It is for this
reason that it is crucial for stalking victims to document every stalking
incident as thoroughly as possible, including collecting and keeping any
videotapes, audiotapes, phone answering machine messages, photos of the
stalker or property damage, letters sent, objects left, affidavits from
eye witnesses, notes, etc. Experts also recommend that victims keep a
journal to document all contacts and incidents, along with the time, date
and other relevant in-formation. (See, Stalking:
Safety Plan Guidelines, for more information concerning evidence and
safety strategies.)
Regardless of whether or not they have sufficient evidence to prove a
stalking violation, victims wishing to file a stalking complaint with
law enforcement officials should do so at the earliest possible point
in time. In some cases, victims may also be able to file a complaint in
the jurisdiction where the offender resides, if it is different from the
victim's.
If law enforcement officials refuse to investigate, or if they are not
responsive to a complaint filed, victims may always directly approach
their local prosecutor (also known in various jurisdictions as, the district
attorney, state's attorney, commonwealth's attorney or state solicitor).
It is also recommended that any person who suspects or believes that they
are currently being stalked should immediately seek the advice and assistance
of local victim specialists in developing a personalized safety plan or
action plan. Victim specialists can be found at local domestic violence
or rape crisis programs -- which should be listed under "Community
Services Numbers" or "Emergency Assistance Numbers" in
the front section of the local phone book -- or in victim assistance programs
located in most local prosecutors' offices and in some law enforcement
agencies -- or click here -- which should be listed under "Local, City or County Government"
in the Blue Pages of the local phone book.
Bibliography
National Institute of Justice. (1993). Project to Develop a Model Anti-Stalking
Code for States, Final Summary Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department
of Justice.
Schaum, Melita and Karen Parrish. (1995). Stalked: Breaking the Silence
on the Crime of Stalking in America. New York: Simon & Schuster,
Inc.
All rights reserved. Copyright © 1995 by the National
Center for Victims of Crime. This information may be freely distributed,
provided that it is distributed free of charge, in its entirety and includes
this copyright notice.
Some state stalking statutes:
•
Allow
police to make warrantless arrests in stalking cases where probable cause
exists;
•
Make
stalking a non-bailable offense under certain circumstances;
•
Provide
for automatic and emergency protective orders;
•
Require
mandatory psychological evaluation and treatment for stalkers;
•
Establish
sentencing enhancements in cases where the victim is a minor, or when
there is a protective order in place against the perpetrator;
•
Create
heightened crime classifications for stalkers who commit second stalking
offenses.