Innocence Lost: Accomplishing Victimization in Intimate Stalking Cases

This article explores identity work and emotion management in felony domestic violence stalking cases, using data collected in a domestic violence unit in a large metropolitan district attorney's office. Victim narratives in crime reports, intensive interviews of stalking victims, and participant observation in a stalking survivors' support group show how women become “victims” in the criminal justice system. Sometimes women's continued interaction with both stalkers and law enforcement actors affects their ability to create and sustain credible victim identities. Almost any action a victim takes or presentation she makes has the potential for inducing negative identity attributions. Thus identity dilemmas seemingly inhere in the stalking situation.     

Physical violence against children reported to the police: discrepancies between register-based data and child victim survey

This study examines the reporting and not reporting of child victimization to the police. The study focuses on comparing the police reports of child victimization to the Finnish Child Victim Survey (FCVS) to find out the kind of violence that is reported to the police and the kind that is not. A total number of 242 police reports of 12-year-old victims of physical violence were collected from the Finnish Police Information System. These reports were compared to the 12-year-old children's victimization experiences in the FCVS. Discrepancies between these two data can be found in the victim's gender, the relationship between the victim and the suspect, and the location of the assault. Physical violence against girls committed by mothers is not reported as often as physical violence against boys committed by men.     

Victim service and justice system representative responses about partner stalking: what do professionals recommend?

Research suggests that partner stalking is associated with reassault and lethality as well as increased psychological distress for victims. However, there is a significant gap in information about stalking interventions and the responses of health, mental health, law enforcement, social services, and criminal justice professionals to women experiencing partner stalking. The purpose of this study is to examine the ideas about appropriate and effective responses to stalking victims from professionals in victim services and the justice system. The study also examined differences among rural and urban representatives because prior studies have shown significant differences between rural and urban areas on experiences and responses to partner violence. A total of 152 key informants (38 urban and 114 rural) were interviewed. Study results suggest a need for more training for victim services and justice system professionals on stalking and service needs of women who experience stalking in the context of partner violence.     

Factors Influencing Believing and Blaming in Reports of Child Sexual Abuse: Survey of a Community Sample

ABSTRACT

Believing and blaming of alleged victims of child sexual abuse (CSA) was measured in a community sample of 202 adults. Subjects completed a questionnaire consisting of vignettes in which 11-year-old girls reported being sexually abused. A majority of respondents viewed the girl's report of sexual abuse as truthful; however, alleged victim retractions significantly reduced the credibility ratings for those reports. The effect of perpetrator socioeconomic status (SES) did not reach significance on either alleged victim believing or blaming. Females were significantly more likely than males to believe the girl's report of abuse, and more likely to believe children's reports in general. Females were significantly less likely than males to blame the girl for the occurrence of the abuse. Gender differences on believing and blaming remained significant when effects of respondent age and education were removed as covariates. Estimates of the prevalence of CSA varied widely, with no significant gender difference. Over half of the respondents believed that alleged victims aged five years or younger should be allowed to testify in court in CSA cases.     

Health care providers' readiness to screen for intimate partner violence in Northern Nigeria

Research on screening for intimate partner violence (IPV) within health care in a sub-Saharan African context is rare. This paper assessed factors associated with the readiness to screen for IPV among care providers (HCP, n = 274) at Kano hospital, Nigeria. Readiness was measured using the Domestic Violence Health Care Providers' survey instrument, which measures grade of perceived self-efficacy in screening for IPV, fear for victim/provider safety, access to system support to refer IPV victims, professional roles resistant/ fear of offending clients, and blaming the victim for being abused victim. Social workers perceived a higher self-efficacy and better access to system support networks to refer victims than peers in other occupation categories. Female care providers and doctors were less likely to blame the victim than males and social workers, respectively. Younger care providers of Yoruba ethnicity and social workers were less likely to perceive conflicting professional roles related to screening than older providers of Hausa ethnicity and doctors, respectively. Implications of our findings for interventions and further research are discussed.     

An examination of sheltered battered women's perpetration of stalking and other unwanted pursuit behaviors

In the current study, sheltered battered women (n = 105) self-reported whether they had perpetrated stalking or other unwanted pursuit behaviors (e.g., harassment, threat) during relationship separations from their abuser. Results indicated that sheltered battered women who admitted perpetrating stalking behavior (about 25% of the sample) had more self-blame, depression, and a greater tendency to leave the shelter within the first week (45%) than did battered women who did not report perpetrating stalking behaviors. The majority of battered women who reported perpetrating stalking behavior also reported being victimized by stalking behaviors (bidirectional stalking). Although these women reported similarly high levels of fear toward their abuser as did unidirectionally stalked women, bidirectionally stalking women were less likely to perceive that their abuser was using his violence to obtain control over them and were more depressed and self-blaming. Directions for future research, recommendations for shelter staff, and the potential treatment implications of these findings are discussed.     

Stalking by former intimates: verbal threats and other predictors of physical violence

Scant empirical research has been conducted on the relationship between threats and violence. The purpose of this analysis is to assess the link between verbal threats of violence and actual physical violence against former intimate victims of stalking. The researcher interviewed 187 female former intimate stalking victims, asking respondents about various characteristics of their experiences. Responses to questions pertaining to threats; history of violence; stalkers' drug and alcohol use; frequency of phone calls, "following," and letters during stalking; and victims' age and education were analyzed as possible predictors of three violence-related dependent variables: (a) whether or not violence occurred, (b) the number of violent incidents during stalking, and (c) physical injury during stalking. The results of linear and logistic regression models reveal that, regardless of the measure of violence, there is an independent, moderate, and statistically significant correlation between verbal threats and subsequent violence. Regression coefficients for drug abuse and alcohol abuse were also statistically significant, but only in predicting physical injury during stalking.     

The contribution of childhood family violence on later intimate partner violence among robbery victims

This study examined the relative contributions of the three forms of childhood family violence exposure on physical intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization among recent robbery victims and tested a gender-matching modeling prediction for IPV risk. Data from a sample of 103 male and 93 female victims of a robbery were analyzed to investigate the effects of exposure to childhood physical abuse (CPA), childhood sexual abuse (CSA), and witnessing parental violence on the likelihood of IPV in adulthood. As expected, witnessing parental violence was associated with a 2.4-fold increase in IPV for both men and women. Neither CPA nor CSA was significantly associated with IPV after accounting for the effect of witnessing parental violence. There was support for the gender-matching hypothesis with men more likely to report IPV if they had witnessed mother-to-father violence and women more likely to report IPV if they had witnessed father-to-mother violence. Witnessing parental violence is strongly associated with risk for IPV victimization, particularly when the victim is the same-gender parent. Future directions and clinical implications are discussed.     

Normative advice to campus crime victims: effects of gender, age, and alcohol

Three studies investigated the appropriateness of calling the police as a function of crime, victim, and subject factors. In particular, the studies focused on whether and how the victim's consumption of alcohol affected normative advice to report the crime, as opposed to other options. Across the three studies, subjects viewed reporting as more appropriate for female victims, for victims who were 21 or older, and for victims who had not been drinking. In addition, females were more likely than males to believe reporting to the police was appropriate whereas males were more likely than females to favor some type of private action. Subjects viewed reporting as particularly inappropriate when the victim was underage and had been drinking. Results suggest that, because of the perceived stigma attached to victims who have been drinking, even serious victimizations may go unreported.     

Intimate sexual victimization among women with protective orders: types and associations of physical and mental health problems

Intimate sexual violence was examined among a sample of women who had recently obtained protective orders against male partners using three groups: no sexual victimization (n = 368), sexual insistence (n = 114), and threatened and/or forced sex (n = 117). Differences in childhood sexual abuse as well as types of partner psychological abuse, stalking, and severe physical violence experiences were found across the groups. Multivariate analysis showed that women with no sexual victimization had significantly fewer mental health problems than women who had experienced sexual insistence and women who had been threatened or forced to have sex. Findings from this study underscore the importance of health, mental health, and criminal justice professionals assessing for a range of sexually abusive acts when working with victims of partner violence.     

The impact of partner stalking on mental health and protective order outcomes over time

The goals of this article are to examine stalking victimization over time among a large sample (n = 662) of women who received a protective order against a violent partner and to examine the impact of stalking on mental health and protective order outcomes. Findings suggest that stalking is a significant risk factor for other forms of partner violence (e.g., psychological, physical, and sexual violence) and that the experience of being stalked by a violent partner contributes uniquely to women's perceptions of psychological distress, personal safety, and perceptions of protective order effectiveness. Both the criminal justice system and victim service representatives need to be vigilant in educating women about the increased risk of stalking to their safety and mental health. Further, study findings suggest that stalking must be addressed to prevent future physical and psychological harm in partner violence cases.     

Comparing stalking victimization from legal and victim perspectives

Because stalking has only recently been recognized as a serious social problem and criminal justice concern, it is not surprising that there is little consensus among lawmakers about what constitutes stalking. To further understanding of how legal definitions and victim definitions of stalking intersect and diverge, this study compares stalking prevalence using a definition of stalking that is based on the model antistalking code for states developed by the Federal government versus a definition of stalking that is victim delineated. Data for the study come from a national telephone survey that queried 8,000 men and 8,000 women about their experiences with stalking victimization using both direct questions that contained the word "stalking" and behaviorally specific questions. Results show that prevalence estimates increase when respondents are allowed to self-define stalking victimization. However, victim definitions of stalking tend to converge with the model antistalking code's definition of stalking in the vast majority of cases. Only 4% of survey respondents defined themselves as stalking victims but failed to meet the legal definition of a stalking victim. A negligible proportion denied being stalked despite the fact they met the legal definition of a stalking victim.     

A review of research on women's use of violence with male intimate partners

This article provides a review of research literature on women who use violence with intimate partners. The central purpose is to inform service providers in the military and civilian communities who work with domestically violent women. The major points of this review are as follows: (a) women's violence usually occurs in the context of violence against them by their male partners; (b) in general, women and men perpetrate equivalent levels of physical and psychological aggression, but evidence suggests that men perpetrate sexual abuse, coercive control, and stalking more frequently than women and that women also are much more frequently injured during domestic violence incidents; (c) women and men are equally likely to initiate physical violence in relationships involving less serious "situational couple violence," and in relationships in which serious and very violent "intimate terrorism" occurs, men are much more likely to be perpetrators and women victims; (d) women's physical violence is more likely than men's violence to be motivated by self-defense and fear, whereas men's physical violence is more likely than women's to be driven by control motives; (e) studies of couples in mutually violent relationships find more negative effects for women than for men; and (f) because of the many differences in behaviors and motivations between women's and men's violence, interventions based on male models of partner violence are likely not effective for many women.     

The reporting and help‐seeking behaviors of domestic violence victims with criminal backgrounds

The decision to report domestic violence is often conditional on whether victims were satisfied with their prior treatment by the criminal justice system. One issue in reporting victimization is that victims of domestic violence may also be involved with the system as offenders. The current paper systematically reviews research on this overlap, finding that most research supports that victims who also have criminal backgrounds are significantly less likely to report subsequent experiences of domestic violence, and are less likely and able to seek out social services, particularly when they report prior negative experiences. The paper then identifies theoretical and policy‐based implications of the review findings.     

The parallels between undue influence, domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault

The dynamics of undue influence (UI) have many similarities with domestic violence, stalking, and grooming behavior used by some sexual predators. This article will help practitioners-particularly law enforcement investigators and prosecutors-better recognize UI as a pattern of behaviors, not an isolated incident. Understanding the dynamics of UI will enhance professionals' appreciation of the responses of victims and the manipulative nature of exploiters. Strategies that have been used effectively with domestic violence, stalking, and some sexual abuse cases may provide remedies for victims of UI and criminal justice options for holding perpetrators accountable. Enhanced awareness of these dynamics should lead to improved investigations, more effective strategies when interviewing and working with victims, and more successful prosecutions of perpetrators who use UI to financially exploit an older person.     

Recruitment,enrollment & data collection with victims of elder abuse and neglect identified from police incident reports

ABSTRACT

This study evaluated the success of researcher-generated recruitment, enrollment, data collection, and safety protocols for field research with victims of elder abuse and neglect (EAN) identified from police incident reports in terms of their success including cost-effectiveness, ability to generate a representative sample, and safety. After reviewing 492 police incident reports involving victims age 65 years or older to identify cases of EAN 62 victims were identified. Mail, phone, and in-person recruitment strategies were used. After 259 recruitment attempts, 52 (84%) eligible victims were contacted, of which 24 (46%) consented to participate. Phone calls were the least expensive mechanism to produce a successfully enrolled participant. Findings from a regression show completion of a research interview could not be predicted by victim, suspect, or offense characteristics, indicating that the recruited victims likely represent the population they were drawn from. No safety or adverse events occurred.     

Frequency and types of partner violence among Mexican American college women

OBJECTIVE AND PARTICIPANTS: The authors studied the prevalence of partner violence, by type, among Mexican American college women aged 18 to 35 years (N = 149; response rate = 85%). RESULTS: Twelve percent of women who reported a dating partner in the past year were physically or sexually assaulted, 12.1% were stalked, and 9.1% scored as psychologically abused. Among those experiencing partner violence, almost half experienced stalking and 89% reported psychological abuse. Few women (25%) who experienced physical violence believed violence was a problem in their relationship. CONCLUSIONS: Partner violence was prevalent in this population, and participants experienced many forms of violence. Because few women experiencing physical violence report that violence is a problem in their relationship, interventions must address perceptions of violence and its impact on women's mental and physical health in college populations.     

Physical and mental health effects of being stalked for men and women

Stalking is relatively common yet little is known of the longer-term health effects of stalking. Using the National Violence Against Women survey, we estimated lifetime stalking victimization among women and men, ages 18 to 65, identified correlates of being stalked, and explored the association between being stalked and mental and physical health status. With a criterion of being stalked on more than one occasion and being at least "somewhat afraid," 14.2% of women and 4.3% of men were victims. Among those stalked, 41% of women and 28% of men were stalked by an intimate partner. Women were more than 13 times as likely to be "very afraid" of their stalker than men. Negative health consequences of being stalked were similar for men and women; those stalked were significantly more likely to report poor current health, depression, injury, and substance use. Implications for victims, service providers, and the criminal justice system were reviewed.     

Female victims of domestic violence: which victims do police refer to crisis intervention?

Factors associated with activation of a volunteer-based crisis intervention services program for victims of police-reported intimate partner violence (IPV) were examined to determine if those for whom services were activated were representative of the overall eligible population. The study population comprised 2,092 adult female victims of male-perpetrated police-reported IPV. Crisis intervention services were requested by responding patrol officers in 415 (19.8%) of these incidents. Activation of crisis intervention services was more likely for victims who were married to their abusive partner, pregnant, or of Latina or Asian race/ethnicity and among IPV incidents involving physical abuse, visible victim injuries, and arrest of the abusive partner. Additionally, one of the city's five police precincts was less likely than the remaining four to utilize these services. Activation of crisis intervention services was associated with factors related to need and feasibility of service delivery, but differential activation at the precinct level was also found to be influential.