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.     

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.     

Women's risk for revictimization by a new abusive partner: for what should we be looking?

The purpose of this article was to examine the prevalence of, as well as risk factors for, revictimization by a new partner. Data was collected via face-to-face interviews at Time 1 (about 5 weeks after obtaining a protective order against a violent partner [DVO partner]) and at Time 2 (approximately 12 months later). Of those women who reported having a new partner at Time 2 (n = 412), 35.2% reported abuse. Findings indicate that there is a subset of women who are at greater risk of experiencing abuse by future partners: women with greater cumulative lifetime victimization and those who abuse or are dependent on illicit drugs. Intervening with women when they obtain a protective order is a critical point of intervention to reduce women's risk for revictimization.     

A mixed-methods examination of sexual coercion and degradation among women in violent relationships who do and do not report forced sex

Although partner sexual abuse is clearly an important dimension of partner violence, it has received less research attention than partner physical and psychological abuse. This article contributes to the literature by examining similarities and differences in coercive and degrading sexual tactics experienced by women who do (n = 31) and women who do not (n = 31) report forced sex using quantitative and qualitative data. The women in the sample had all been recently (within the past 6 months) stalked by a violent intimate partner. Results suggest that both women who do and women who do not report forced sex experience various coercive and degrading tactics within the context of sexual activity. Results also suggest that multiple sexual abuse dimensions should be considered within the context of partner psychological abuse, physical abuse, and stalking and that more research on understanding the outcomes associated with dimensions of sexual abuse within the context of physical and psychological abuse is needed.     

The personality of pursuit: personality attributions of unwanted pursuers and stalkers

A sample of 292 college students recalled a partner who had engaged in unwanted pursuit (46%) or recalled their most recent "normal" dating relationship. Subjects rated their own level of stalking victimization and rated the partner on a series of personality characteristics and social competence. Unwanted pursuers were perceived as less socially competent, more histrionic, more borderline, and less obsessive-compulsive, with discrimination of "normals" from unwanted pursuers of approximately 75% to 80% accuracy. These attributions also significantly predicted a continuous measure of unwanted pursuit victimization (R = .406). Implications for developing more precise and practical risk profiles of unwanted pursuers are discussed.     

Female-perpetrated intimate partner violence and romantic attachment style in a college student sample

The frequency, severity, and reciprocity of female-perpetrated intimate partner violence and its consequences (i.e., injuries) were investigated in a college sample of women (N = 457). Participants were classified into one of the following four groups on the basis of self-reported physical assault perpetration and victimization against their relationship partners: nonviolent, perpetrator-only, victim-only, and bidirectionally violent. Results showed that females in the bidirectionally violent group had a reportedly higher occurrence (although not always statistically significant) of perpetration and victimization than those in the perpetrator-only and victim-only groups. Additionally, a similar degree of reciprocity was indicated by females in bidirectionally violent relationships in terms of violence severity and the occurrence of injury. Adult romantic attachment style was also examined among a subset of females (N = 328), and bidirectionally violent females were found to have the highest reported levels of attachment anxiety. Further, females high in attachment anxiety and low in attachment avoidance were more likely to report perpetrating violence than females high in both styles. Implications for prevention are discussed.     

Stalker profiles with and without protective orders: reoffending or criminal justice processing?

Research indicates that stalking is an extension of intimate partner violence. The overall purpose of this study was to better understand stalkers by examining the association between a protective order history and the court's processing of subsequent stalking, and to examine patterns of reoffending. This study examined a sample of 346 males who were charged with stalking in 1999 in one state. Subjects were partitioned into three groups: (1) males without protective orders; (2) males with one prior protective order; and (3) males with two or more prior protective orders. Almost two-thirds of the stalkers had a protective order against them at some point in the study, suggesting that stalking is associated with intimate partner violence. Results also found a linear trend with many of the criminal justice involvement variables and protective order history prior to 1999. Those charged with first-degree stalking were more likely to be found guilty initially, and about one-third of all three study groups had the initial felony stalking charge amended. Of those charged with second-degree stalking, only 7% of the group with two or more protective orders was initially found guilty, which was substantially less than the other two groups. And, when all the amendment dispositions were considered, there were no significant differences by group in guilty and dismissed dispositions for the index stalking charge. Further, consistent with previous criminal justice involvement, the group with two or more protective orders was more likely to have subsequent felony charges than the other two groups. Implications 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.     

The role of stalking in domestic violence crime reports generated by the Colorado Springs Police Department

A review of 1,785 domestic violence crime reports generated by the Colorado Springs Police Department found that 1 in 6 (16.5 percent) contained evidence the suspect stalked the victim. Female victims were significantly more likely than male victims to allege stalking by their partners (18.3 vs. 10.5 percent). Most stalkers were former rather than current intimates. Regardless of victims' gender, reports with stalking allegations were significantly less likely to mention physical abuse or victim injury in the presenting condition, to involve households with children, or to involve victims and suspects who were using alcohol at the time of the report. Female victims who alleged stalking by their partner were significantly less likely than female victims who did not allege stalking to be emotionally distraught at the time of the report, but significantly more likely to have an active restraining order against the suspect, and to sign releases to facilitate the police investigation. Police almost never charged domestic violence stalking suspects with stalking, preferring instead to charge them with harassment or violation of a restraining order.     

Intimate partner violence, women, and work: coping on the job

Intimate partner violence is a significant health problem for women, with consequences extending to work as well as society at large. This article describes workplace interference tactics, how women cope with violence at work, and workplace supports for a sample of recently employed women with domestic violence orders (DVO; n = 518). Results indicate that violent partners used a wide range of work interference tactics, that women were more likely to tell someone at work about the victimization than they were to hide the information, and that coworkers and supervisors provided a range of supports to women who did disclose their situation. Implications for further research and practice are discussed.     

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.     

Research on stalking: what do we know and where do we go?

Findings of the article in this two-volume series on stalking are reviewed. Building on the findings of the National Violence Against Women Survey (Tjaden & Thoennes, 1998), this series of studies adds to the literature in defining and measuring stalking behaviors. Repeated stalking victimization is reported by up to 62% of young adults, although frequencies depend on the sample and the precise definition used. Self-definitions of stalking victimization may be quite different from legal definitions. Although the majority of legally defined stalkers (where victim fear is a key component) are men stalking women, studies utilizing other definitions find many more women as stalkers, with no significant gender differences in many studies. In many cases, it does appear that stalking is one part of a larger pattern of relationship physical and psychological abuse. Data on emotional reactions and coping strategies of victims are also reviewed, along with findings on characteristics of stalkers.     

A pattern of violence: analyzing the relationship between intimate partner violence and stalking

As the literature on stalking has grown, several studies have proposed a relationship between stalking and intimate partner violence (IPV). This study examines a clinical sample of intimate partner batterers to assess the stalking-related behaviors committed against the participants' intimate partners. The study examined the levels of severity between stalking-related behaviors and IPV, as well as identified differences between batterers who exhibited stalking-related behaviors and those who did not. A significant relationship between stalking-related behavior and IPV was found, with more severe stalking related to higher levels of IPV and more extreme psychopathology.     

Stalking as a variant of intimate violence: implications from a young adult sample

There is a limited but growing literature which suggests that stalking is a variant of intimate violence. The purpose of this study was to examine physical, psychological, and stalking victimization and perpetration among males and females. Alcohol use was also examined. The sample was 46 male and 84 female undergraduate students who reported stalking victimization and perpetration after a difficult breakup, and psychological and physical victimization and perpetration during that specific relationship. Overall, 27% of the sample study was classified into the stalking victimization group, which is consistent with other stalking prevalence rates among college samples. For females, stalking victimization was significantly associated with physical and psychological abuse victimization. For males, stalking victimization was significantly associated with psychological abuse victimization. However, there was also a strong significant reciprocal relationship of stalking and psychological abuse victimization and perpetration, especially for males. Also, alcohol use was significantly associated with victimization and perpetration of stalking and psychological abuse for males. The data from this study contribute to the hypothesis that stalking is a variant of or extension of intimate violence, especially for females. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Structural antecedents of aggravated assault: exploratory assessment of female and male victimization

This article examines whether the social structural factors predicting violence against women are different from those predicting violence against men. Using sex-specific, aggravated assault rates from Florida counties (n = 60), this regression analysis tests three principal explanations of violent victimization: routine activities, social disorganization, and gender inequality. Although initially some difference in the predictive factors for male and female aggravated assault rates emerged, a test of the equality of regression coefficients revealed no "real" significant differences. Despite this finding, it remains important to assess the influence of societal factors on rates of violent victimization. The national trend indicates that male violent victimization is declining and female violent victimization is relatively stable. It is important to understand why this is the case.     

Comparing violence over the life span in samples of same-sex and opposite-sex cohabitants

Using data from a nationally representative telephone survey that was conducted from November 1995 to May 1996, this study compares lifetime experiences with violent victimization among men and women with a history of same-sex cohabitation and their counterparts with a history of marriage and/or opposite-sex cohabitation only. The study found that respondents who had lived with a same-sex intimate partner were significantly more likely than respondents who had married or lived with an opposite-sex partner only to have been: (a) raped as minors and adults; (b) physically assaulted as children by adult caretakers; and (c) physically assaulted as adults by all types of perpetrators, including intimate partners. The study also confirms previous reports that intimate partner violence is more prevalent among gay male couples than heterosexual couples. However, it contradicts reports that intimate partner violence is more prevalent among lesbian couples than heterosexual couples. Overall study findings suggest that intimate partner violence is perpetrated primarily by men, whether against same-sex or opposite-sex partners.