Serious Violence

Stalking, sometimes known as “obsessional following,” describes behavior characterized by the repeated unwanted intrusion of one person into the life of another, by either direct contact or communication. A characteristic of the behavior is that it occasions fear or apprehension in the victim. Dramatic incidents of stalker violence brought stalking to public prominence and were the impetus to the introduction of antistalking legislation that, in most jurisdictions, is framed in terms of a behavior that places a person in fear of physical harm., However, most stalkers are not violent; rates for violent behavior range between 30 and 40 percent in most reported series.2 Violence infrequently results in serious physical injury, with most victims being grabbed, punched, slapped, or fondled by the stalker. Serious violence is rare. It has been suggested that the homicide rate in stalking is probably less than two percent,4–6 but an analysis of prevalence rates of...