Persistent Harassment: Targets and Perpetrators Among Young Adults

In Portugal, stalking has recently been recognized as a crime. This study used an online survey to ask 3,367 college students about their experiences of persistent harassment and targets’ and perpetrators’ perceptions of fear and conduct legitimacy. Targets (34.5%) typically mentioned that they had experienced a frightening experience but considered it to have been wrong but not very serious. Perpetrators (8.9%) mostly perceived that their targets had not experienced fear and judged their own conduct to have been normal. Ordinal logistic regressions indicated that intimate partner stalking, targets’ fear, and threatening and violent behaviors predicted less conduct legitimization for both targets and perpetrators.     

Stalking on the College Campus: The Influence of Suitable Target and Guardianship Variables on Victimization Comparing Male and Female Students

Current estimates predict that more than 5% of men and 8% women will be stalked at some point in their lifetime, and up to 6% of both men and women will be stalked during their time at college. While variables related to sexual assault have been extensively examined, factors that contribute to stalking and influences specific to university students remain a point of concern for administration and those attending the institution. Using a proportioned stratified sampling technique, this study obtained cross-sectional survey data collected from 873 students at a university in the upper Midwest. Utilizing a routine activity theory theoretical perspective, hierarchical and binary logistic regression are employed to investigate the prevalence of stalking, as well as the influence of individual and campus guardianship variables on the stalking victimization of college students, and an experiential comparison of female and male students. Findings reveal that among the total female student sample, 43% had been stalked at some point in their lifetime, with 13% stalked during their time at the university. Of the male students, 34% had been stalked, with 18% stalked while at the university. Sexual history, year in school, and perceived vulnerability were positive predictors of stalking.     

略论企业与自然的关系——对可持续发展的一种分析

在可持续发展系统中,经济持续是基础,生态持续是条件,社会持续是目的。企业与自然的关系是可持续发展中人与自然关系的集中体现;企业与自然是内在自然性与超越自然性的对立统一;企业可持续发展战略思想是现代社会生产和生活方式变化在企业管理上的必然反映。当代社会在强调人与自然协调发展的同时,也同样要求企业与周围环境的和谐与兼容。     

论我国陪审制度的坚持与完善

陪审制度是一项重要的司法民主制度 ,有扩大司法民主、保障司法独立 ,促进司法廉洁 ,深化普法教育的功能 ,其利大于弊。我国应当坚持并不断完善陪审制度     

Changing Stalking Patterns and Prosecutorial Decisions: Bridging the Present to the Future

This article reviews sixty cases from prosecutor's files in two New Jersey counties. These cases are used to examine and help better define the phenomena of stalking. Selected sample case examples are presented and described in regard to the typology of stalking behavior originally proposed by Dziegielewski and Roberts (1995). Based on these cases, application, modification and refinement of the typology criteria are suggested. The critical need for crisis intervention protocols and specialized anti-stalking units and training are emphasized. It is hoped that this information will help the criminal justice and forensic professional to better understand, assess the dangerousness of, and intervene rapidly and effectively in the phenomena of stalking, and to provide technology to protect victims.     

Complaints of group-stalking (‘gang-stalking’): an exploratory study of their nature and impact on complainants

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.     

The RECON typology of stalking: reliability and validity based upon a large sample of North American stalkers

A new typology of stalking, RECON (relationship and context-based), is proposed, based upon the prior relationship between the pursuer and the victim, and the context in which the stalking occurs. The static typology yields four groups: Intimate, Acquaintance, Public Figure, and Private Stranger. The typology was tested on a large (N = 1005) nonrandom sample of North American stalkers gathered from prosecutorial agencies, a large police department, an entertainment corporation security department, and the authors' files. Interrater reliability for group assignment was 0.95 (ICC). Discriminant validity (p < 0.01) was demonstrated on a variety of demographic, clinical, pursuit, threat, and violence characteristics among and between groups. Findings confirm and extend the work of other researchers, most notably the very high risk of threats and violence among prior sexually intimate stalkers, the very low risk of threats and violence among public figure (celebrity) stalkers, and the negative relationship between stalking violence and psychosis.     

Career Dimensions of Stalking Victimization and Perpetration

Prior literature concerning stalking, particularly in the field of criminology, finds wide variation in fundamental trends regarding stalking victimization and perpetration. There seems to be little consensus regarding when and how stalking is manifested. Furthermore, prior research to date has not addressed the etiology of stalking‐related behaviors by applying principles from criminal career research, including participation, frequency, onset, and duration. The present study builds upon prior research by addressing trends in age of onset for stalking victimization and perpetration, the duration of stalking‐related behaviors, and the relationship between those behaviors and other types of crime over the life course using primary data from a sample of young adults. Findings indicate that stalking victimization and perpetration share important career attribute similarities, and that self‐reported history of intimate partner violence and sexual assault are strongly associated with stalking outcomes.     

A study of DNA transfers onto plastic packets placed in personal bags

The ability to detect low level DNA brings with it the uncertainty of whether the detected DNA is a result of transfer. To address this uncertainty, a simulation study was conducted in which a mock illicit drug packet was placed into the personal bags of individuals. When the average transit time of the packets was increased from around 2 h to more than 14 h, the percentage of the DNA profiles recovered from the packets which could be attributed to the individuals increased greatly from 5.3% to 48.6%. We found that drug packers who were poor shedders could not be included as contributors to the DNA profiles from the drug packets at all and there was a higher chance that individuals other than themselves could be included as contributors to the DNA profile recovered from drug packets. We also found that it was equally likely that the drug packers who had direct contact with the drug packets and bag owners who did not, could be included as contributors to the DNA profiles recovered from the packets. The results in this study highlight the importance of taking into consideration the transit time of drug packet, the shedder status of the alleged packer and the history of an item, when evaluating DNA evidence in the context of illicit drug activities.     

Identifying and classifying juvenile stalking behavior

Despite the growing research in the area of stalking, the focus has been on adults who engage in this behavior. Unfortunately, almost no studies investigate the prevalence of this behavior in adolescents. Two cases are presented demonstrating not only that stalking occurs during the period of adolescence, but also that there is a significant difference in the motivation underlying this behavior that can be classified similarly to that of adult stalkers. Further, a suggested classification based on these two cases as well as our experience with other juveniles who have exhibited stalking behaviors is proposed. The first case involves a narcissistic youth who also possesses psychopathic traits, while the second involves a lonely, severely socially awkward teen. Juvenile stalking is a societal problem that has not yet garnered the attention it deserves, and all systems that deal with juvenile delinquency (juvenile court, law enforcement, and mental health personnel) as well as the school system must be educated to the prevalence and severity of this yet-to-be-recognized problem.