Protection Against Pursuit: A Conceptual and Empirical Comparison of Cyberstalking and Stalking Victimization Among a National Sample

Cyberstalking is a relatively understudied area in criminology, with no consensus among scholars as to whether it represents a modified form of stalking or whether it is an entirely new and emerging criminal phenomenon. Using data from the 2006 Supplemental Victimization Survey (SVS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), this study compares stalking and cyberstalking victims across several dimensions, including situational features of their experiences and self-protective behaviors. Results indicate that there are significant differences between stalking and cyberstalking victims, including their number of self-protective behaviors adopted, duration of contact with their stalker, financial costs of victimization, and perceived fear at onset. Perceived fear over time, the occurrence of a physical attack, and sex of the victim were all associated with a higher number of self-protective behaviors for cyberstalking victims compared to stalking victims, net of the effect of the control variables. Implications for stalking theory, research, and criminal justice policy are discussed.

[1]  R. Leiter.  National Survey of State Laws , 2016 .

[2]  Mackenzie Lambine.  Unsafe in the Ivory Tower: The sexual victimization of college women , 2012 .

[3]  Bonnie S. Fisher,et al.  Stalking in the Twilight Zone: Extent of Cyberstalking Victimization and Offending Among College Students , 2012 .

[4]  Matt R. Nobles,et al.  Method behind the madness: An examination of stalking measurements , 2011 .

[5]  Ronald L. Akers,et al.  Is stalking a learned phenomenon? An empirical test of social learning theory , 2011 .

[6]  Általános társadalom tudományok.  National Center for Missing and Exploited Children , 2011 .

[7]  Bradford W. Reyns,et al.  Gender Differences in Acknowledgment of Stalking Victimization: Results From the NCVS Stalking Supplement , 2011, Violence and Victims.

[8]  Jinchang Wang,et al.  An Exploratory Study of the Cyberbullying and Cyberstalking Experiences and Factors Related to Victimization of Students at a Public Liberal Arts College , 2010, Int. J. Technoethics.

[9]  Bradford W. Reyns,et al.  The stalking victim's decision to contact the police: A test of Gottfredson and Gottfredson's theory of criminal justice decision making , 2010 .

[10]  Matt R. Nobles,et al.  Look who's stalking: Obsessive pursuit and attachment theory , 2010 .

[11]  Danielle M. Reynald,et al.  Guardians on Guardianship: Factors Affecting the Willingness to Supervise, the Ability to Detect Potential Offenders, and the Willingness to Intervene , 2010 .

[12]  R. Guerette,et al.  Explaining Victim Self-Protective Behavior Effects on Crime Incident Outcomes , 2010 .

[13]  Bradford W. Reyns.  A situational crime prevention approach to cyberstalking victimization: Preventive tactics for Internet users and online place managers , 2010 .

[14]  Aaron Smith,et al.  Social Media & Mobile Internet Use among Teens and Young Adults. Millennials. , 2010 .

[15]  R. Acierno,et al.  Prevalence and correlates of emotional, physical, sexual, and financial abuse and potential neglect in the United States: the National Elder Mistreatment Study. , 2010, American journal of public health.

[16]  L. Sheridan,et al.  The Prevalence of Stalking Among Finnish University Students , 2010, Journal of interpersonal violence.

[17]  Laura J. Moriarty,et al.  Cyberstalking: Utilizing What We do Know , 2009 .

[18]  Matt R. Nobles,et al.  Career Dimensions of Stalking Victimization and Perpetration , 2009 .

[19]  P. Tjaden,et al.  Stalking Policies and Research in the United States: A Twenty Year Retrospective , 2009 .

[20]  Angela R. Gover,et al.  The Effects of Low Self-Control and Childhood Maltreatment on Stalking Victimization among Men and Women , 2009 .

[21]  Joshua D. Freilich,et al.  An assessment of the empirical validity and conceptualization of individual level multivariate studies of lifestyle/routine activities theory published from 1995 to 2005 , 2009 .

[22]  Matthew C. Johnson,et al.  Identifying Predictors of Negative Psychological Reactions to Stalking Victimization , 2009, Journal of interpersonal violence.

[23]  Stalking Victimization Among College Women and Subsequent Help-Seeking Behaviors , 2009, Journal of American college health : J of ACH.

[24]  M. Rand,et al.  National Crime Victimization Survey: Stalking Victimization in the United States , 2009 .

[25]  T. Holt,et al.  Examining the Applicability of Lifestyle-Routine Activities Theory for Cybercrime Victimization , 2008 .

[26]  Pamela Wilcox,et al.  GUARDIANSHIP IN CONTEXT: IMPLICATIONS FOR BURGLARY VICTIMIZATION RISK AND PREVENTION* , 2008 .

[27]  L. Sheridan,et al.  Is cyberstalking different? , 2007 .

[28]  P. Wilcox,et al.  Stalking acknowledgement and reporting among college women experiencing intrusive behaviors: Implications for the emergence of a “classic stalking case” , 2007 .

[29]  Cynthia Fraser,et al.  Intimate Partner Violence, Technology, and Stalking , 2007, Violence against women.

[30]  A. Gross,et al.  Assessing sexual aggression: Addressing the gap between rape victimization and perpetration prevalence rates , 2007 .

[31]  Pamela Wilcox,et al.  A Multidimensional Examination of Campus Safety , 2007 .

[32]  Brian H. Spitzberg,et al.  The state of the art of stalking: Taking stock of the emerging literature , 2007 .

[33]  B. Fisher,et al.  Assessing the efficacy of the protective action-completion nexus for sexual victimizations. , 2007, Violence and victims.

[34]  J. Hilbe.  Negative Binomial Regression: Preface , 2007 .

[35]  Kathleen C. Basile,et al.  Stalking in the United States: recent national prevalence estimates. , 2006, American journal of preventive medicine.

[36]  Marcus Felson,et al.  THOSE WHO DISCOURAGE CRIME , 2006 .

[37]  J. Wolak,et al.  Online Victimization of Youth : Five Years Later. , 2006 .

[38]  Naomi Harlin Goodno.  Cyberstalking, a New Crime: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Current State and Federal Laws , 2006 .

[39]  S. Smoyak,et al.  Perceptions of Cyberstalking Among College Students , 2005 .

[40]  G. Kleck,et al.  RESISTING CRIME: THE EFFECTS OF VICTIM ACTION ON THE OUTCOMES OF CRIMES , 2004 .

[41]  J. Finn.  A Survey of Online Harassment at a University Campus , 2004, Journal of interpersonal violence.

[42]  Michael G. Turner,et al.  Acknowledging sexual victimization as rape: Results from a national-level study , 2003 .

[43]  R. Tewksbury,et al.  College Students' Lifestyles and Self-Protective Behaviors , 2003 .

[44]  Ronald V. Clarke,et al.  Superhighway Robbery: Preventing E-commerce Crime , 2003 .

[45]  Paul Bocij,et al.  Seven fallacies about cyberstalking , 2003 .

[46]  D. Carmody,et al.  Disentangling the Effects of Self-Protective Behaviors on the Risk of Injury in Assaults Against Women , 2002 .

[47]  Francis T. Cullen,et al.  BEING PURSUED: STALKING VICTIMIZATION IN A NATIONAL STUDY OF COLLEGE WOMEN* , 2002 .

[48]  Brian H. Spitzberg,et al.  Cyberstalking and the technologies of interpersonal terrorism , 2002, New Media Soc..

[49]  B. Fisher.  Being Pursued and Pursuing during the College Years: Their Extent, Nature, and Impact of Stalking on College Campuses , 2001 .

[50]  D. Osgood.  Poisson-Based Regression Analysis of Aggregate Crime Rates , 2000 .

[51]  P. Resick,et al.  Intimate Partner Violence and Stalking Behavior: Exploration of Patterns and Correlates in a Sample of Acutely Battered Women , 2000, Violence and Victims.

[52]  P. Tjaden,et al.  Comparing Stalking Victimization From Legal and Victim Perspectives , 2000, Violence and Victims.

[53]  K. Davis,et al.  Research on Stalking: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go? , 2000, Violence and Victims.

[54]  Jan M. Chaiken,et al.  The Sexual Victimization of College Women , 2000 .

[55]  Richard Tewksbury,et al.  A Routine Activity Theory Explanation for Women's Stalking Victimizations , 1999, Violence against Women.

[56]  E M Hallowell,et al.  The human moment at work. , 1999, Harvard business review.

[57]  Nancy Thoennes,et al.  Stalking in America : findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey , 1998 .

[58]  Frances L. Coleman,et al.  Stalking Behavior and the Cycle of Domestic Violence , 1997 .

[59]  M. Rand.  Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey , 1997 .

[60]  Brent G. Dennis,et al.  Sex-Related Offenses and Fear of Crime on Campus , 1996 .

[61]  Charles R. Tittle,et al.  Control Balance: Toward A General Theory Of Deviance , 1995 .

[62]  John E. Eck,et al.  Crime and place , 1995 .

[63]  G. Gudjonsson.  After the crime. Victim decision making , 1993 .

[64]  Michael R. Gottfredson,et al.  Decision Making in Criminal Justice , 1988 .

[65]  A. Lurigio.  Are all Victims Alike? The Adverse, Generalized, and Differential Impact of Crime , 1987 .

[66]  Linda S. Williams,et al.  The Classic Rape: When Do Victims Report? , 1984 .

[67]  Andrew Karmen,et al.  Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology , 1984 .

[68]  James R. Kluegel,et al.  Social Inequality and Predatory Criminal Victimization: An Exposition and Test of a Formal Theory , 1981 .

[69]  Michael R. Gottfredson,et al.  Decisionmaking in criminal justice: Toward the rational exercise of discretion , 1980 .

[70]  Lawrence E. Cohen,et al.  Social Change and Crime Rate Trends: A Routine Activity Approach , 1979 .

[71]  Michael R. Gottfredson,et al.  A Study of the Behavior of Law , 1979 .

[72]  C. Wellford,et al.  On the Measurement of Delinquency , 1975 .

[73]  S. Kobrin.  : Delinquency and Opportunity: A Theory of Delinquent Gangs , 1961 .

[74]  Gresham M. Sykes,et al.  Techniques of neutralization: A theory of delinquency. , 1957 .