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Stalking Essay

Codependency as an Addiction

CL-CEOL205

Trent Kelly

Student # : 100799350
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In 1991, a 16 year old student at Conestoga Valley High School in Lancaster,

Pennsylvania named Laurie Show became the victim of a nonstop ordeal of stalking and

harassment. Laurie was targeted by a classmate named Lisa Michelle Lambert, who was

upset that Laurie had briefly dated a mutual friend, Lawrence “Butch” Yunkin. Lisa had

recently become pregnant with Butch’s child and was obsessively jealous of Laurie,

believing that she was trying to steal her boyfriend. In actuality, Butch had allegedly raped

Laurie and she wanted nothing to do with him. Nonetheless, Lisa frequently harassed Laurie,

taunting and threatening her in public and with obscene phone calls. Laurie’s mother, Hazel

Show, attempted to file assault charges against Lisa, but it did little to stop her. On

December 21st, Hazel received a phone call from a counselor, asking her to drop by the

school for a meeting about Laurie. It turned out the call was just a diversion to get Hazel out

of the residence, leaving Laurie alone. When Hazel returned home, she was horrified to

discover that her daughter had been murdered. Laurie’s throat had been slashed and she

had been stabbed several times. She used her dying words to tell her mother that Lisa

Lambert was responsible. The next day, Lisa was arrested along with an accomplice, Tabitha

Buck, they both received life sentences. This incident prompted Hazel Show to campaign for

stronger anti-stalking laws in Pennsylvania, which went into effect in June, 1993.

Stalking is as old as the history of human relationships, and yet it has only been

within the past 3 decades that the behavior has been recognized as unlawful. The term

“Stalk” means to approach or pursue stealthily, and having been used since 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 “obsessed”. As of

recently, stalking is defined as “a course of conduct directed at a specific person that

involves repeated physical or visual proximity, non consensual communication, or verbal,

written, or implied threats sufficient to cause fear in a reasonable person.” (Tjaden, 1997).

The term “stalking” refers to repeated and often escalating unwanted intrusions and
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communications, including loitering nearby, following or surveying someone’s home, making

multiple telephone calls or other forms of unwanted direct and indirect communications,

spreading gossip, destroying personal property, harassing acquaintances or family

members, sending threatening or sexually suggestive “gifts” or letters, and aggressive and

violent acts (K.M Abrams & Robinson, 2002). Whether in person, over cell phones, or in the

new century, online, stalking is an extremely frightening, emotionally stressful and

depressing crime of intimidation, and crime of intimidation is what it is. The offence of

intimidation or stalking is contained in section 13 of the Crimes (Domestic and Personal

Violence) Act 2007 and includes conduct amounting to harassment or molestation, an

approach made by any means that causes the person to fear for their safety, conduct that

causes a person to apprehend injury to them or another person with whom they have a

domestic relationship with, conduct that causes a reasonable person to apprehend violence

or damage to any person or property, following a person, approaching frequently or watching

the vicinity of a person's place of residence or business, and contacting a person frequently

using the internet for unwanted harassment.

Since the 1990’s to the present, stalkers and stalking victims have been the subjects of

extensive psychological research. The release of films such as Fatal Attraction (1987),

Sleeping with the Enemy (1991), and Cape Fear (1991) contributed to increasing salience

about this problem in the minds of the public. This raised questions in the psychological

world about why people stalk and the underlying causes, there are many behaviors and/or

mental illnesses that can have cause and effect. I’ll start with developmental deprivation,

which is experienced in childhood as a result of one or more parents not showing love and

affection and can lead the person to feel unloved and unwanted which can lead to feelings of

insecurity. Which then brings me to insecurity, for some men to become secure in their

masculinity, they must become over involved in a woman's life because controlling a woman

makes them feel superior. Another often hallmark of stalkers is paranoia. The paranoid

behaviors are used to protect the individual from humiliation and against ego collapse, this

becomes their abandonment protector, they would rather push women away and stalk them
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rather than allow them to leave. Primitive, violent, starving physical needs are sometimes

used to describe the personality and behaviors of a stalker and batterer, some men can't

control themselves and become overaggressive and act desperately. But as I have learned

from multiple case studies, it is not always men that do the stalking and commit the violent

acts, such as the case study in the introduction of my essay, jealousy seemed to be the

motive for Lisa Lambert.

Although stalking cases often look similar on the surface and involve the same kind

of behaviors, the reasons that people engage in stalking are complex and varied. The

typology of stalkers places the greatest emphasis on the context in which the stalking arose

and the stalkers initial motivation for contacting the victim. They are classified into six

different types of stalkers, the rejected stalker, the resentful stalker, the intimacy seeking

stalker, the incompetent stalker, the love obsessional stalker and the predatory stalker.

Rejected stalking arises in the context of the breakdown of a relationship, victims are usually

former sexual intimates; however family members, close friends, acquaintances, and

professional colleagues can also become targets of rejected stalking. The initial motivation of

a rejected stalker is either attempting to rectify the relationship, or to exact revenge for a

perceived rejection. This individual often experiences feelings of loss, frustration, anger,

jealousy, malevolence and depression. Resentful stalking arises when the stalker feels as

though they have been mistreated or that they are the victim of some form of injustice or

humiliation. The goal of this type of stalker is to frighten and distress the victim, and the

victims are usually strangers or acquaintances who are seen to have mistreated the stalker.

The initial motivation for the resentful stalker is the desire for revenge or to “even the score”

and the stalking is maintained by the sense of power and control that the stalker derives

from inducing fear into the victim. Often resentful stalkers present themselves as a victim

who is justified in using stalking to fight back against an oppressive person or organization.

The intimacy seeking stalker pursues an intimate relationship with an individual perceived as

their “true love”, but their attentions are not wanted by the object of their affection. Frequently

intimacy seeking stalkers’ behavior is fuelled by a severe mental illness involving delusional
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beliefs about the victim, known as erotomania. The stalking is maintained by the gratification

that comes from the belief that they are closely linked to another person. They truly believe

that if the victim would just get to know them, they would be accepted. Their delusional

thinking keeps them in a hoping mindset. The incompetent stalker is intellectually limited and

socially incompetent and they desire intimacy, but the object of their affection does not

reciprocate those feelings. They lack sufficient skills in dating. They are not infatuated with

the victim, only attracted, and do not assert that the affection is mutual. Incompetent stalkers

usually stalk for brief periods, but when they do persist their behavior is usually maintained

by the fact that they are blind or indifferent to the distress of the victim. The love obsessional

stalker is similar to the erotomanic individual, the victim is almost always known through the

media. Their goal is to make their existence known to the victim. This type of stalker may

also hold the delusion that the victim is in love with them, this erotomanic delusion is based

on one of several delusions and psychiatric symptoms. These individuals may be obsessed

in their love, without having the belief that the target is in love with them. The last type of

stalker I will discuss is the predatory stalker. Predatory stalking arises in the context of

deviant sexual practice and interests. The offenders are usually male and the victims are

usually female strangers in whom the stalker develops a sexual interest. The power and

control that comes from stalking a victim gives these types of stalker a great deal of

satisfaction, and often the stalker desires to learn more about the victim. This stalker may

even mentally rehearse a plan to attack the victim. Many of these stalkers that have been

convicted are diagnosed with paraphilia and sexual perversions thus making them more

likely to have histories of sexual offense convictions. In this sense the stalking is both

instrumental and also gratifying for those stalkers who enjoy the sense of power and control

that comes from targeting the usually unsuspecting victim. The predatory stalker is the most

dangerous and violent type of stalker but the emotional distress and harm placed on the

victim is often the harder to come back from then a physical injury.

Many stalking victims want to know the likelihood that they will become the victim of a

violent act. According to (Rosenfeld & Harmon, 2002) “Determining which stalkers represent
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a significant risk of violence, and differentiating those individuals from the remaining

offenders who may pose less risk of physical harm, has clear and significant implications for

victims, clinicians and the legal system.” Specifically, intimacy seeking stalkers that

threatened persons and property (including physical violence toward the victim), were more

likely to “make good” on their threats by following them with some sort of violent behavior,

and used more physical approach behaviors in contacting their victim than non-intimacy

seeking stalkers. These results illustrate the importance of accounting for the presence of an

intimate relationship when assessing for violence risks in stalking cases (Palarea et at.,

1999). Violent threats and drug abuse also appear to be significant predictors of the level of

violence a stalker may pose. Interestingly enough, variables such as the stalker's prior

criminal history and previous violent behavior did not emerge as good predictors of violence

(Rosenfeld & Harmon, 2002). McEwan, Mullen, MacKenzie, and Ogloff (2009), also found

that stalkers who are rejected ex-intimates, who have a history of violent behavior, and who

have made threats present the greatest risk of violence. The difference between the studies

however, may be due to the fact that Rosenfeld & Harmon (2002), had access to much more

information (official records of arrests and convictions as well as stalker self-reports) than the

Palarea group did (1999). Palarea group used data obtained from 223 police files maintained

by the LAPD. The difference between the two studies might be a function of the quality and

quantity of the data collected. Some research suggests that juvenile stalkers may be more

dangerous and violent than adults. In an investigation of 299 juvenile stalkers, Purcell,

Moller, Flower and Mullen (2009), found that juveniles participated in higher crime levels of

threats and violence than typically found in adult stalking. Over half of the victims (54%) of

juvenile stalkers were physically attacked, some sustaining significant injuries, and another

2% were sexually assaulted resulting in serious injury. Older victims, such as elders, were

the most likely to be injured and also less likely to be taken seriously by law enforcement. As

i have stated earlier, not every stalking case has physical harm involved, some of the most

damage to the victim is done emotionally. The fears and the emotional distress generated by

stalking behavior are many and varied and can harm a victim for a long period of time.
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When it comes to persistent, frightening stalking that creates risks to personal safety,

the Tjaden and Thoennes survey (1998) suggests that the most effective method to stop it

may be for the victim to relocate as far away from the offender as possible, providing no

information of the person's whereabouts to the stalker or to individuals who might

communicate that information. Although 15% of victims said the stalking ceased when their

stalkers received a warning from police, interestingly enough, more formal interventions such

as arrest, conviction, or restraining orders do not appear to be very effective, perhaps

serving to antagonize the stalker. About 18% of the victims in the Center for Policy Research

Survey (Tjaden & Theonnes, 1998) indicated that the stalking stopped when stalkers entered

into a relationship with a new person. Some stalkers stop pursuing their current victim when

they find a new “love” interest. A comprehensive study of stalking was co-sponsored by the

National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (B.S. Fisher, Cullen &

Turner, 2000). The project involved a phone survey of 4446 female students at 223 colleges

and universities, conducted from February to May in 1997. The primary screening question

used to measure stalking was the following : “Since school began in fall 1996, has anyone

from a stranger to an ex-boyfriend repeatedly followed you, watched you, phoned, written,

emailed, or communicated with you in other ways that seemed obsessive and made you feel

afraid or concerned with your safety?” There were some key findings provided from this

study, one being that 13% of the college women had been stalked since the school year

began. Of the victims, 80.3% knew or had seen their stalker before and the stalking incidents

lasted about 2 months on average. In 10.3% of the incidents, the victim reported that the

stalker forced or attempted sexual contact and overall, 83.1% of stalking incidents were not

reported to police or campus law enforcement. Finally, 30% of the women reported being

injured emotionally and psychologically from being stalked. In another extensive study

conducted by the National Crimes Victimization Survey, 11% of the victims of stalking said

that they had been stalked by the same person for 5 years or more. 87% of the time, the

stalker was male and the victim was female 80% of the time. 80% of stalkers are believed to

be white, at least 50% are between the ages of 18 and 35, and many earn above average
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incomes. About 1 in 5 victims feared bodily harm to themselves, 1 in 6 feared for the safety

of a child or other family members, and about 1 in 20 feared being killed by the stalker.

Approximately half of the female victims were stalked by current or former marital or

cohabiting partners, and a majority of these women (80%) had been physically assaulted by

that partner either during the relationship, during the stalking episode, or both. Only 7% of

the victims thought their stalkers were mentally disordered, psychotic, crazy, or abusers of

alcohol and/or drugs. My theory is that this percentage is so low because when the victim of

a stalker is a stranger, the victim may not know anything about the offender. In about ⅓ of

the cases according to the National Crimes Victimization Survey (NCVS), the stalkers

vandalized the victims property, and about 10% of the time, the stalker killed or threatened to

kill the victims pet. The psychological harm that is being done to each victim of these cases

is unimaginable and these victims need help and ways to prevent all of these effects on

mental health, physical health, and the victims relationship with the environment.

The victims of stalking have been a rich source of information revolved around

studying the impact stalking has on the victims. Through large-scale community surveys and

smaller studies of specific victim groups, we have begun to understand the potentially

devastating effects of stalking victimization. Apart from the frequent legal prerequisite of fear,

and the possibility of injury due to assault, research has shown that victims suffer a wide

range of psychological, physical, occupational, social and general lifestyle effects as a

consequence of being stalked. The experience of being stalked to one victim, the behavior

may be considered as annoying, as to another victim it could be life shattering. The impact

the stalking has on a victim may vary according to the victim’s characteristics, past

experience, current circumstances, and what they know, or dont know about the stalker. How

others respond to the victim’s situation, including how the stalking is managed by authorities,

can influence the overall effect that the stalking episode has on the victim. Although female

victims usually report greater levels of fear, studies have found that males subjected to

stalking experience similar symptoms to those reported by females. Stalking can place some

very serious effects on the victim’s mental health, including denial, guilt, embarrassment,
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confusion, self-doubting, wondering if they are overreacting, self-blame, frustration, and fear

to name a few. On the more serious end of the scale, terror of being alone or that they,

others or pets will be harmed, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, inability to sleep, having

nightmares, irritability, emotional numbing, insecurity, self medication such as drugs and

alcohol and suicide thoughts or attemtps. Any number of the issues could arise during a

stressful stalking experience and each issue is just as draining and awful as the next. Now it

is not just mental health that can be affected during a stalking experience, physical health

has also been an issue with victims in the past. Some of the effects that stalking can have on

the physical health of a victim would be fatigue from difficulty sleeping, being constantly on

guard, symptoms of depression, headaches, fluctuations in weight due to not eating or

comfort eating, development of pre-existing conditions such as asthma, dizziness, shortness

of breath, substance abuse, and physical injury due to not concentrating or being under the

influence. And if that is not enough to go through, stalking victims also feel heavy effects on

social life, at work and at school and even effects on finances is possible. The effects on

social life is an important place to start, firstly, being the victim of a stalker will add insecurity

and inability to trust others impacting on current and future relationships and friendships,

there can be problems with physical and emotional intimacy, and sometimes the victim will

avoid usual activities such as going to the gym or taking a dog for a walk. Secondly, others

may withdraw from the victim because they don't believe the victim, they are unable to cope

with the victims mental state or as a direct consequence of third-party victimization. Now

even though all of these issues arise and have major effects on a victim’s life, some victims

may not seek help and I wanted to shed some light on why that might be. A victim of stalking

may not be seeking help because they may not understand that what is happening to them

is stalking and/or that it is illegal, they may try to pretend that the stalking is not happening,

direct threats from the stalker and fears about how the stalker will respond either to them or

those that they love and care for are major reasons for not seeking help from authorities or

even a close friend or family member. Believing that the victim should be able to deal with

the situation is another reason, they might think that the stalker will see reason and not want
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to get in trouble, or previous requests for help have been ignored. Language barriers and

knowledge of the law may also prevent victim’s from coming forward to authorities during a

stalking experience.

In our modern day, with the new advent of technologies, traditional stalking has taken

on entirely new forms through media like e-mail, text messaging, tweets and other avenues

of social networking. It is possible that such incidents may be more common than traditional

forms of stalking. This is because the basic apparatus of the internet facilities is not only

anonymity but also contact with an immense field of potential victims. In addition, there is a

considerable amount of personal information available through the internet, and

cyberstalkers can easily and quickly locate private information about a target. Unsolicited

e-mail is one of the most common forms of harassment, including hate, obscene or

threatening mail. Text messaging, Instagram, Twitter, and other social media outlets are

becoming increasingly popular. Other forms of harassment include sending the victim

computer viruses or high volumes of electronic junk mail (spamming). Electronic stalking can

result from an attempt to initiate a relationship, repair a relationship, or threaten and

traumatize a person. Sometimes it is accompanied by traditional stalking such as threatening

phone calls, vandalism of property, threatening mail and physical attacks. Cyberstalkers

often work under the assumption that they are anonymous and they often are. This means

that it is up to you to protect yourself from this form of harassment. However, if you find that

you are being stalked online, it is crucial that you take appropriate action to bring it to and

end. Many people leave themselves vulnerable to online harassment so i will list some ways

to increase your online security. You should always have the most up-to-date virus and

firewall protection, never share personal information in online profiles or public spaces, you

should be suspicious of anyone who is pushing you to reveal details of your private life, and

password protect all accounts including on cell phones, computers, banking, emails and

change your passwords regularly. If you are being stalked online the golden rule is not to

underestimate how serious this can be, go with your instinct, and if you feel uncomfortable

end communications immediately and tell someone what has been happening. Cyberstalking
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is extremely serious especially for kids and teenagers growing up now being online a lot of

the time and deserves more attention for public knowledge.

In my opinion, stalking : the crime of intimidation is exactly that, most cases that i

have been reading into do not go as far as to physically attack the victim but it has happened

many times in the past all over the world. Authorities and psychologists have placed

guidelines and recommendations as there are prevention methods for stalking that if taken

the time to prevent it as best as the victim can, the stalking can cease. Stalking is said to be

a behavior and not a disorder. I think mental disorder does play a role in stalking, its

contribution varies greatly depending on the nature of the symptoms experienced, the

context in which they are experienced, and the role of other personal and environmental

factors. Stalkers tend to present with a wide variety of mental disorders, with psychosis often

playing a role for those stalkers with intimacy seeking or resentful motivations, while

personality disorders, depression and substance misuse are common amongst those with

rejected, resentful and predatory motivations. My opinion was that stalking is indeed a

behavior, but the stalkers behavior and motivations can also be greatly impacted by a mental

disorder or multiple disorders. Moving forward in society, as there already is, stalking victim

support groups, hotlines, and group counselling and therapies are continuously growing and

becoming more common in the United States and i believe we need to continue this upward

trend in support groups and safe places for victims because with the rise of technology, i do

not believe that traditional and cyberstalking will deteriorate any time soon. During a 12

month period in the year 2020 in the United States, and estimated 14 in every 1000 persons

age 18 or older were victims of stalking and 1 in 4 victims reported cyberstalking. As you can

see this trend is not slowing down and we as a society should be able to do more to keep

communities and citizens safe, especially in their own homes in front of a computer screen.

People should be able to feel safe in the communities and not have to worry about becoming

a stalking victim.

References
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Introduction to Forensic Psychology Research and Application Textbook : Fifth Edition (Curt

R. Bartol & Anne M. Bartol)

https://www.armstronglegal.com/criminal-law/nsw/offences/sexual/intimidation-and-stalking/

https://www.stalkingriskprofile.com

https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=973