Interpersonal Behavior: The Criminalized Act Of Stalking

A pattern of repeated harassing and intimidating behaviours directed towards a specific individual that causes the target to feel threatened, frightened or uncomfortable is known as stalking. Delusional beliefs in a romantic destiny, desire to rekindle a prior relationship and a general urge to harass or torment a specific victim are the main motives of stalkers. Most stalkers contain a diagnostic label related to psychotic or personality disorders relating to their stalking patterns. As the criminalized act of stalking may seem not seem as dangerous or threatening as must crimes it is still a very aggressive action that traumatizes many individuals.

The act of stalking is one of the most interpersonal acts to be defined as criminalized act.

Stalking is mostly done to individuals whom the stalker knows or has specifically shared a prior intimidate relationship with. Aside from who the stalker targets, either a previous significant other, an acquaintance or a stranger there are specific actions a stalker completes. Phone calls, harassing letters, video surveillance of the victim’s home, theft, unwanted physical approaches and threats to harm or kill the victim are all specific activities that the average stalker partakes in. These actions are all completed interchangeably towards different types of victims and stalkers that have been categorized into stalker typologies. Forensic behavioural scientist has divided different types of stalking into categories, with the most common type being simple obsessional stalker. The simple obsessional stalker accounts for more than 50% of stalking cases and is usually a male with a personality disorder or substance abuse problem stalking a former romantic partner. Love obsessional, erotomanic, political and professional stalkers often target celebrities on the

When a stalker becomes violent it is towards a victim of previous partnership and consist of non-life threatening actions such as punching, grabbing, slapping or throwing. Although, psychical and interpersonal actions are most commonly related to stalking, with todays advanced communication technology, electronic communication has become a platform for stalking. As an extension of traditional stalking, cyber stalking is unique in a way that it can harass and frighten individuals with extreme anonymity. This form of stalking has become very common due to its safety mechanisms through monitoring emails, webcams, and the use of social networking sites. As technology is advancing rapidly this type of stalking will increase due to its ability to protect and defend