The Forensic Examiner Articles

The Influence of Gender, Sex, and Intimacy

According to a study by Tjaden & Thoennes (1998), overall, males represented just under 90% of stalkers and slightly over 20% of victims. Approximately 65% of the male victims knew their stalker and of those, 30% were stalked by a current or prior intimate partner. According to research by Mullen et al. (2000), most male victims are apt to be stalked by another male.

The same study showed that females represented just under 80% of stalking victims (Tjaden & Thoennes, 1998). Approximately 80% of female victims knew their stalker and of those, 59% were stalked by a current or prior intimate partner. Of those women stalked by an intimate partner, 81% were physically assaulted while 31% were both physically and sexually assaulted. According to Jiwani, Kachuk, and Moore (1998), women living in rural communities are especially vulnerable due to the inherent difficulty in avoiding and hiding from stalkers.

In comparing stalking committed by males versus females, Purcell, Pathe, and Mullen (2001) found no difference in the duration of stalking. Males were more apt to present with a history of substance abuse and criminal behavior than were females. While males were more likely to stalk strangers than were females, females were more likely to engage in same-sex stalking than males. As compared to males, females were more apt to stalk current or former therapists. Where females stalked in pursuit of intimacy, males presented with more varied underlying drives and motivations. Similarly, Meloy and Boyd (2003) found that female stalkers were driven by the desire to establish intimacy with their target, where men generally sought to restore an intimate relationship.

The significant number of men and women who are stalked by a current or former spouse or partner points to a clear overlap between stalking and domestic violence. In fact, separation between intimates has been identified as a trigger of stalking behavior (Morrison, 2001), and several studies have shown a strong connection between former sexual intimacy and violent stalking behaviors (Farnham, James, & Cantrell, 2000; James & Farnham, 2003; Meloy, 2000; Mohandie et al., 2006). While substance abuse, criminal history, and prior sexual intimacy are all associated with stalking violence, for both genders, prior sexual intimacy is the most significant predictor.

As might be expected, researchers have found that stalking is not only a significant risk factor for domestic violence, but also for murder; in particular, for female victims who had a prior physically abusive relationship with their stalker (McFarlane, Campbell, & Watson, 2002; McFarlane, Campbell, & Watson, 1999; McFarlane, Willson, Malecha, & Lemmey, 2000; Tjaden & Thoennes, 2001). In cases in which an attempt was made on a woman’s life, in the year preceding the attempt, a reported 85% were stalked, 71% were in a violent relationship, and 68% experienced both. Of all murdered women, 76% were stalked, 67% were in a violent relationship, and 89% experienced both stalking and domestic violence. Of note, 54% of female murder victims and 46% of female victims of attempted murder had reported the stalking to the police.

In comparing violent and non-violent stalkers, Schwartz-Watts and Morgan (1998) found no significant differences on the variables of education, substance abuse, organicity, and Axis I diagnoses. They did, however, find a significant relationship between the two groups on the dimension of prior relationship. Non-violent stalkers were more likely to have only a casual association with the victim, where violent stalkers were more likely to have had an intimate relationship. A negative relationship has been repeatedly found between violent stalking and psychosis (Farnham, James, & Cantrall, 2000; Kienlen, Birmingham, Solberg, O’Regan, & Meloy 1997; SchwartzWatts & Morgan). Psychotic stalkers, who are more apt to stalk strangers than are non-psychotic stalkers, make significantly fewer threats of violence and less frequently behave violently than do non-psychotic stalkers (Farmham et al.; Kienlen et al.).

Overall, the frequency rate of violent stalking behavior ranges from 21% to 76%, with the violence including an array of behaviors, from the commonplace (e.g., pushing or slapping) to the extreme (e.g., murder by fire with gasoline and acid as accelerants) (Meloy, 2002). In looking at female stalkers, Meloy and Boyd (2003) found a 25% frequency rate of violence. Across all stalking cases, 1 in 5 includes the use of weapons for the purpose of threatening or actually harming the victim (Mohandie et al., 2006). Close geographic proximity between stalker and victim has been associated with increased property damage and physical assault (Palarea, Zona, Lane, & Langhinrichsen-Rohling, 1999).

To be continued.