Forensic Psychiatry: Stalking - Coursework Example

Running Head: Stalking Stalking [Institute’s Stalking In a world where crimes of all shapes and sizes are at an all-time high and continue to increase every day, no one is safe. It was thought that if one was rich and powerful and could afford bodyguards and security, they were as safe as anyone could be in this dangerous world. However, with the advent of target kidnappings and stalking, this school of thought has become obsolete. Therefore, it is safe to say that everyone, anywhere in the world needs to be careful. Be it the world capitals, such as New York and Tokyo, or crime-ridden third-world metropolitans such as New Delhi and Cape Town. Stalking is a term devised to encompass the activities of people that become unnaturally obsessive towards other people such as following, contacting, approaching or sending messages of a threatening or obsessive nature; these could include all sorts of absurd acts that may frighten the victims. Stalking is a crime that no one, no matter where they live or how rich or poor they are is truly safe from. Stalking has existed, or been heard of, in some shape, way or form, ever since people have existed in civilizations. It can be carried out by individuals, people working together, or teams of people. For the last few decades, sociologists and psychologists have studied stalking extensively. These professionals have followed cases of both celebrities and ordinary citizens that have been followed and stalked by people, and studied the behavior of the perpetrators, the sequence of events that led to the victim becoming acquainted with the stalker, and further elaboration of the extent of the stalking. Governments of many nations have started taking it more seriously and devising concrete anti-stalking policy after many high profile cases ended in assault or murder. One of the major cases that come to mind is that of Rebecca Shaeffer, a young girl of 19 who was stalked for 3 years and then killed by her stalker at her own home in 1989. Moreover, what is of more interest is the fact that it is not merely a tendency towards crime that results in people becoming obsessive to the point of stalking another individual. However, rather science has found that it is something that they at times cannot inherently control; stalking can also be considered a personality disorder that renders the perpetrator incapable of recognizing the danger of their obsessive behavior (Lasdun, 2014, pp. 47-52). Stalking is any activity such as following a person, pushing presents at them, approaching them repeatedly, or calling and texting them in an attempt to make contact with them, showing up at their place of residence, or harassing them in a way that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear. It is one of the most commonly reported crimes in the United States, and continues to be a reason for fear and paranoia throughout the world. What is worse that many people underestimate the threat that these stalkers possess and do not report them to the police or the authorities for fear of a scandal or simply to avoid the hassle. As the result, the number of stalkers in studies and according to statistics may actually be an underestimation of the extent of the threat that actually exists. According to studies, stalking is now being moved away from being considered a pure crime, and is starting to be treated as a mental health issue. In the UK, for example, clinics have now been set up for stalkers, and to give them the help they need considering that they are not mentally fit. Psychologists and psychiatrists, along with neurologists, have conducted many studies on stalking cases and come to the conclusion that most times, it is due to the fact that the stalker has depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or a personality disorder (Gunn & Taylor, 2014, pp. 35-40). Most often, stalkers are suffering from erotomania, whereby they believe that the person they are stalking or following shares their feelings of love and obsession, and need rescuing. Therefore, they believe that they are doing the person a favour, and helping them out by being their savior and thereby deserve to be reciprocated with love and affection. However, other types of stalkers exist as well, as studies have shown. In fact, as stalking has become a more prominent and apparent part of society, much information has been gathered from victims and families of victims to classify and categorically understand stalkers and try to put some reasoning to their clinically psychotic behavior. Although all stalking appears to be the same, the underlying factors and reasons that the stalker is driven by can be complex and varied from case to case, although psychologists have found that glaring common factors and similarities do exist. Psychologists have, on the basis of information from victims about the means used by their stalkers to stalk them, such as phone calls, texts, physically following them around, and from information about how the stalker and the victim became acquainted, found that definite trends between the behaviors of different stalkers exist. Stalking and stalkers can be studied by using different topologies. One of them, possibly the most straightforward one, breaks stalking down into the type of relationship the victim had with the perpetrator prior to the harassment. Therefore, stalkers can be classified as ex-lovers (ex-husbands, ex-fiancés, ex-boyfriends) or family and friends (stepfather, birth mother, uncles), or simply an acquaintance (old colleague from work, old neighbor.) Case studies show that ex-intimates, that is, people who are familiar with the victim and their body, are more likely to be violent than other types of stalkers. Another topology that is commonly used is slightly more complex, and provides more information on the characteristics of the stalker and so derives from these the behavior and means they would use to carry out said stalking. This type of topology puts a lot of merit on the etiology of the stalking, that is to say, how the stalking came about, what the stalkers initial motives were for trying to get in contact with their target, the victim. Furthermore, it takes into account the relationship between the victim and the stalker, the nature of the relationship, the quality with which it terminated, and the possible implication of a mental illness that the stalker may be motivated by. This topology specifically tries to derive the behavior and the rationale taken up by the stalker, and helps the victims and the stalkers manage and treat the psyche. In addition, this strategy of subtyping the stalkers is the most commonly used across the world as it is the best attempt of facilitating diagnosis and treatment of the stalkers. According to the above-mentioned topology, five types of stalkers exist. They are "The Rejected Stalker," "The Resentful Stalker," "The Intimacy Seeking Stalker," "The Incompetent Suitor," and "The Predatory Stalker" (Lasdun, 2014, pp.16-22). The Rejected Stalker is an individual that was previously in a relationship with his or her victim, and is now suffering from unrequited love, or infatuation, or lust. This individual is possibly experiencing the unwanted end of a relationship that is over. It is important to recognize that this relationship is not limited to being a romantic one with a partner; rather, it can be that of a parent and child, of a colleague at work, or even of a study partner in a university course. Over time, the stalker will attempt to reconcile and resume the relationship as it were by trying to talk their way into it, but as their attempts fail, they will grow angry and hostile, and frequently go on to seek revenge from the person that "betrayed" and "rejected" them (Ghirardelli, 2012, pp. 24-29). The personality of the Rejected Stalker is narcissistic and jealous, coupled with feelings and sentiments of humiliation, neediness, overt dependence on another person, while being socially awkward and uncomfortable in public places or interactions with others. This Stalker would feel jealous if their ex-intimate was seen at a coffee shop with another person, or if they were seen talking on the phone with another person. Moreover, this Stalker would have few friends, as they would feel overly dependent on being around or in contact with their target. Most often, this type of stalker would employ distinct behaviors to pursue their victims. Common stalking behaviors would be great persistence shown by this type of stalker who will also be very intrusive. He or she would go out of their way to try and intimidate and scare their victim, and may also resort to physical or sexual assault to get through to their person of interest. Violent streaks in their past relationship with the victim may also have existed, which may be emulated if the stalker tracks down the victim and forces contact. This type of stalker would also be the most resistant, never giving up and possibly trying till arrested by the authorities. The most unpredictable part of this type of Stalker is the fact that they have extremes in their personality (Lasdun, 2014, pp. 47-52). At times, they would appear to be harmless and reasonable in seeking to reconcile their past relationship, at others, however, they could be clearly angry at the victim and want revenge. Psychologists believe that the stalking itself, that is, following the victim, calling them, spending time thinking about them or how to get close to them, keeps the Stalkers mind occupied and busy, and so becomes a kind of substitute to their past relationship while allowing the Stalker to feel close to the victim (Ghirardelli, 2012, pp. 24-29). In other cases, the Stalker may be stalking the victim to make themselves feel better and salvage their damaged self-esteem by causing the victim hurt, or by forcing the victim to take them back so they could be the ones to end the relationship, and come out "on top" (Lasdun, 2014, pp. 47-52). The Resentful stalker is the type that wants to distress or scare their victims in order to get some sort of payback or revenge for a past humiliation or oppression they believe had been done to them. Resentful stalking would arise in the context of the stalker feeling as though he or she has not been treated fairly or dealt with justly in the past, and they would feel embarrassed and humiliated and often blame these feelings of resentment towards a person. Victims of this stalker can be acquaintances or even strangers, which remind the stalker or serve as a symbol for the stalker of the oppressor in his or her past. A Resentful stalker may often have a personality disorder, or a severe mental illness that causes them to feel extreme paranoia, often irrationally. They would follow their victim and exercise this paranoia by using stalking as a way of causing harm to the victim that they believe the victim deserves. Initially, this stalking would begin as a means of getting revenge or raising their own self-esteem after said humiliation. This stalking is maintained by the feeling of control that the perpetrator feels from seeing the victim squirm out of fear (Ghirardelli, 2012, pp. 78-85). To themselves, their behaviour appears rational as they do believe that they have been dealt with wrongly in the past by an individual or a group of individuals, and so this type of stalker would follow a person that has directly harmed the stalker or someone that they believe represents an organisation that has been unfair to the stalker. For example, a resentful stalker would follow and harass the manager of a company that fired them from their job. This type of stalker tends to be the most obsessive of the lot and persistent in their efforts to achieve their end goal - to get revenge. Ironically, this type of stalker would be the most likely to issue verbal threats and insults at their victim while also being the least likely to actually physically assault the victim. Fortunately, this type of stalker tends to stop stalking if faced with legal action early on, but as time progresses and the stalking becomes a longer activity, legal sanctions are less likely to have an effect (Ghirardelli, 2012, pp. 78-85). The Intimacy Seeking Stalker is inherently a victim of loneliness, isolation and suffers from feeling a lack of closeness with anyone. This type of stalker would mainly be stalking to form some sort of bond or relationship with their victim to alleviate their feelings of insecurity and loneliness. They primarily aim to establish a full-blown intimate, bonafide relationship with their victim and believe that they are happily in love with the victim and that the victim reciprocates the sentiment. This stalker is most likely to choose a victim that is merely acquaintance or even a stranger, basically not people they know very well, or who know them very well. The stalker would feel lost without the companionship of this victim and believe that they would not be able to survive without them, as the victim is apparently the only one that could fully understand the stalkers needs and wants. What is scary about this stalker is that they are encouraged by all sorts of contact from the victim, even by negative responses. Deep down, research shows that these stalkers believe that the victim will finally give in and fall in love with the stalker as a compensation for all they have invested into the stalking. This type of stalker, needless to say, is deaf and blind to the fact that the victim does not and will not fall in love with them, and refuse to change their beliefs. Personality-wise, such stalkers are shy and lonely, and they have failed to establish any meaningful intimate relationship in the past. Over time, their behaviour will evolve from passively stalking to becoming angry that the victim is not responding, and they may proceed to become violent and aggressive (Wright, 2012, pp. 41-44). This stalker would also be prone to becoming angry and jealous if their victim is seen entering a romantic relationship with another person, as they believe the victim should commit to them. This case of stalking is similar to the man that stalked Rebecca Shaeffer for 3 years, eventually getting angry at her lack of interest and killing her. Unfortunately, this stalker would not respond positively to legal action, and instead view them as hurdles that their "love" has to overcome. Since this stalker is persistent and often violent, they are possibly the most dangerous category. The Incompetent Suitor would mainly be antisocial, and pushed by the desire to start a romantic relationship with the victim. They would be unaware of the fact that it is a possibility that the victim may not find them unattractive, and believe they are the ideal suitor for them. They would repeatedly as their victim on dates, or repeatedly try to get in touch with them via phone or text and refuse to take the hint and stop. This type of stalker is not as dangerous as the rest, and after legal action or counselling would be likely to stop in their attempts (Wright, 2012, pp. 41-44). The Predatory Stalker would be motivated by the desire to attack their victim - either sexually or violently. They are mainly interested in power and control this assault will give them over the victim, and it is this gratification that mainly fuels their desire. These stalkers have personality problems, insecurities, poor self-esteem and often, lesser than normal intelligence. They do not employ behaviours such as harassing or harming their victim, but rather satisfy themselves with surveillance, insulting phone calls, fetishism and self-gratification while looking at their victim. This type of stalker over time is likely to be violent with their victim, but may stalk for a shorter time than other stalkers. Stalking is at an all-time high with high profile celebrities, such as Madonna to common civilians such as ones neighbour at a risk. Fortunately, governments have recognised the need for legal action and adjusted their penal codes to take into account this very real threat to society in an effort to make the world a better place (Wright, 2012, pp. 41-44). Moreover, medical professionals continue to study and evaluate stalkers, to ensure they get the help they need, as it is not a criminal, but rather a psychological issue (Burke, 2013, pp. 32). References Burke, R. H. 2013. Hard Cop, Soft Cop. London: Routledge. Ghirardelli, P. 2012. Stalking. New York: Lampi di Stampa. Gunn, J., Taylor, P. 2014. Forensic Psychiatry: Clinical, Legal and Ethical Issues. Chicago: CRC Press. Lasdun, J. 2014. Give Me Everything You Have: On being stalked. New York: Picador. Wright, M. 2012. Triumph: In the face of struggles, annoyances, stalking, schemes and coverts revealed. Chicago: Xlibris Corporation. Read More