Stalking

Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance or contact by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them. The term stalking is used with some differing definitions in psychiatry and psychology, as well as in some legal jurisdictions as a term for a criminal offense.
Although interrelated, stalking is distinct from harassment, as it involves repeated behaviours and contact. Some scholars have suggested that the moral wrong of stalking is not well defined and propose that stalking is an attempt to force a personal connection and relationship on a victim. According to a 2002 report by the U.S. National Center for Victims of Crime, "virtually any unwanted contact between two people that directly or indirectly communicates a threat or places the victim in fear can be considered stalking", although the rights afforded to victims may vary depending on jurisdiction.

Definitions

A 1995 research paper titled "Stalking Strangers and Lovers" was among the first places to use the term "stalking" to describe the common occurrence of males after a breakup who aggressively pursue their female former partner. Prior to that paper instead of the term "stalking", people more commonly used the terms "female harassment", "obsessive following" or "psychological rape".
The difficulties associated with defining this term exactly are well documented.
This is due in part to overlapping between accepted courtship behaviors and stalking behaviors. Context must be relied on to determine if a specific action is a stalking behavior.
Having been used since at least the 16th century to refer to a prowler or a poacher, the term stalker was initially used by media in the 20th century to describe people who pester and harass others, initially with specific reference to the harassment of celebrities by strangers who were described as being "obsessed". This use of the word appears to have been coined by the tabloid press in the United States. With time, the meaning of stalking changed and incorporated individuals being harassed by their former partners. Pathé and Mullen describe stalking as "a constellation of behaviours in which an individual inflicts upon another repeated unwanted intrusions and communications". Stalking can be defined as the willful and repeated following, watching or harassing of another person. Unlike other crimes, which usually involve one act, stalking is a series of actions that occur over a period of time.
Although stalking is illegal in most areas of the world, some actions that contribute to stalking may be legal, such as gathering information, calling someone on the phone, texting, sending gifts, emailing, or instant messaging. They become illegal when they breach the legal definition of harassment. In fact, United Kingdom law states the incident only has to happen twice when the harasser should be aware their behavior is unacceptable.
Cultural norms and meaning affect the way stalking is defined. Scholars note that the majority of men and women admit engaging in various stalking-like behaviors following a breakup, but stop such behaviors over time, suggesting that "engagement in low levels of unwanted pursuit behaviors for a relatively short amount of time, particularly in the context of a relationship break-up, may be normative for heterosexual dating relationships occurring within U.S. culture."

Psychology and behaviors

People characterized as stalkers may be accused of having a mistaken belief that another person loves them, or that they need rescuing. Stalking can consist of an accumulation of a series of actions which, by themselves, can be legal, such as calling on the phone, sending gifts, or sending emails.
Stalkers may use overt and covert intimidation, threats and violence to frighten their victims. They may engage in vandalism and property damage or make physical attacks that are meant to frighten. Less common are sexual assaults.
Intimate-partner stalkers are the most dangerous type. In the UK, for example, most stalkers are former partners, and evidence indicates that stalking facilitated by mental illness accounts for only a minority of cases of alleged stalking. A UK Home Office research study on the use of the Protection from Harassment Act stated: "The study found that the Protection from Harassment Act is being used to deal with a variety of behaviour such as domestic and inter-neighbour disputes. It is rarely used for stalking as portrayed by the media since only a small minority of cases in the survey involved such behaviour."
Some scholars have proposed that stalkers have an insecure attachment style and that this can contribute to the development of borderline and narcissistic personality characteristics, which has been observed in people whose stalking leads to criminal justice system involvement. Such people rely on getting positive approval from others in order to maintain their positive self concept. If they don't get this, they may develop maladaptive coping strategies, such as stalking and a significant amount of data supports this theory.
An alternative theory is that stalking behaviours can result from social factors that are learnt. As such, people that stalk may be more likely to know people who stalk or that show approval of such behaviour. Antisocial peers and attitudes are prominent factors linked to broader criminal offending behaviour. A test of this involving US college students found that social learning factors were associated with self-reported stalking perpetration.
Other theories in terms of stalking include evolutionary theory, that someone somehow believes such behaviour is necessary to thrive and survive and multi-factor theories, such as behavioural theories, where it is proposed that stalking repeats and escalates if the behaviour is rewarded. For example, stalking may provide feelings of power or control, which could be perceived by the individual as rewarding. There is also evidence to support that stalking is an extension of coercive control and is more likely if there was controlling behaviour or intimidation during the prior relationship.

Psychological effects on victims

91.5% of stalking victims experience a psychological impact from this behaviour. A review of existing literature in 2023, found that across a range of studies, some prominent psychological impacts included fear of death, anxiety and intrusive thoughts and memories. Less commonly found psychological impacts included panic attacks, post traumatic stress disorder and depression. 24% of victims had considered or attempted suicide. The psychological impact of stalking on victims is extensive and significant. Other research conducted in Europe has found that stalking victims commonly experience psychological distress, post traumatic stress disorder and trauma related symptoms. Anger, annoyance and fear were commonly experienced emotions in response to stalking.
Disruptions in daily life necessary to escape the stalker, including changes in employment, residence and phone numbers, take a toll on the victim's well-being and may lead to a sense of isolation. Research has shown that 97.4% of stalking victims took coping measures. Coping strategies mainly consisted of making minor changes to make it more difficult for the stalker to persist. More serious measures, like moving home, typically only occurred in very serious cases of stalking.
According to Lamber Royakkers:

Stalking as a close relationship

Stalking has also been described as a form of close relationship between the parties, albeit a disjunctive one where the two participants have opposing goals rather than cooperative goals. One participant, often a woman, likely wishes to end the relationship entirely, but may find herself unable to easily do so. The other participant, often but not always a man, wishes to escalate the relationship. It has been described as a close relationship because the duration, frequency, and intensity of contact may rival that of a more traditional conjunctive dating relationship.

Types of victims

Based on work with stalking victims for eight years in Australia, Mullen and Pathé identified different types of stalking victims, characterized by prior relationship with the stalker. These are:

Prior intimates: Victims who had been in a previous intimate relationship with their stalker. In the article, Mullen and Pathé describe this as being "the largest category, the most common victim profile being a woman who has previously shared an intimate relationship with her male stalker." These victims are more likely to be exposed to violence being enacted by their stalker especially if the stalker had a criminal past. In addition, victims who have "date stalkers" are less likely to experience violence by their stalkers. A "date stalker" is considered an individual who had an intimate relationship with the victim but it was short-lived instead of a long term relationship.
Casual acquaintances and friends: Among male stalking victims, most are part of this category. This category of victims also includes neighbor stalking. This may result in the victims' change of residence.
Professional contacts: These are victims who have been stalked by patients, clients, or students who they have had a professional relationship with. Certain professions such as health care providers, teachers, and lawyers are at a higher risk for stalking.
Workplace contacts: The stalkers of these victims tend to visit them in their workplace which means that they are either an employer, employee, or a customer. When victims have stalkers coming to their workplace, this poses a threat not only to the victims' safety but to the safety of other individuals as well.
Strangers: These victims are typically unaware of how their stalkers began stalking because typically these stalkers form a sense of admiration for their victims from a distance.
The famous: Most of these victims are individuals who are portrayed heavily on media outlets but can also include individuals such as politicians and athletes.