Stalking Awareness Series: Recognizing stalking behaviors and types

Tuesday, July 1 marked one year since the enactment of House Bill 4156, Oregon’s modernized stalking law, which expands the definition of “contact” to include emerging forms of harassment and threats, including the use of technology, that was not accounted for under the original law drafted in 1995.

Definition and common motivations

By definition, stalking is legally defined by the United States Department of Justice as “a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for his or her safety or the safety of others or suffer substantial emotional distress.” Other references commonly define stalking as unwanted, intrusive and repeated surveillance, attention, or harassment directed toward a particular individual. It is also a federal crime.

Stalking is generally underreported but current statistics gathered by the Stalking Prevention, Awareness, & Resource Center (SPARC), estimate “13.5 million people are stalked in a one-year period in the United States with nearly one in three women and one in six men experiencing stalking victimization at some point in their lifetime.” SPARC also cites “the vast majority of stalking victims are stalked by someone they know: 40 percent by a current/former intimate partner and 42 percent by an acquaintance.”

The motivations behind stalking behaviors can vary but, in general, stem from a desire to exert power and dominance over a victim. An article in The Minds Journal titled “Is Someone Watching You? Understanding Stalking Behavior” cites common reasons such as obsession, desire for control over the victim, a form of revenge, and even mental illness. According to the article, “About 30 percent of them suffer from delusional disorders, especially the ones who seek intimacy. However, most of the rejected stalkers have some form of personality disorders. A stalker may stalk their victim from “four weeks to 20 years or longer.”

Understanding types of stalking

Stalking can take a variety of forms and range from a single individual to a large coordinated group effort. Individual stalking refers to a sole individual engaging in stalking behaviors. This is commonly connected to intimate partner violence but can represent any individual who takes an unhealthy obsession with another.

Stalking-by-proxy is when an individual engages another person(s). This can include friends, family members, co-workers or acquaintances, sometimes with participants unwittingly supporting stalking behaviors. According to a research journal article, “Stalking in the context of intimate partner abuse: In the victims’ words. Feminist Criminology” by Melton H. C., the notion of stalking-by-proxy, namely, using other people to contact and harass a victim, gives a sense “that the perpetrator does not need to be present to control her; he can monitor her via other people and, in so doing, create the impression that no matter where she goes, she will not be safe from him.”

Community-based or “gang stalking” is an extreme offshoot of stalking-by-proxy and is theorized to intentionally try to cause psychological, emotional, financial, and physical harm over an extended period of time. This approach engages broader established groups and can include organizations, neighborhood watches, or community policing efforts, a network of pay-for-hire proxy stalkers, or social and friend networks.

Common stalking behaviors

The behaviors and actions of stalking individuals and groups can vary and include a wide range of tactics designed to instill fear in the victim. According to data collected by SPARC, two of three stalkers pursue their victims at least once per week - many daily - using more than one method and 78 percent of stalkers use more than one tactic.

Some tactics are crimes on their own while others may appear more benign, such as leaving unwanted gifts. Common behaviors can include physical surveillance, either directly or through proxy-stalking, to gather information; repeatedly initiating unwanted contact via phone calls, texts, emails, or social media; sending gifts or leaving objects to find; planting GPS trackers to monitor location; spying at a distance; installing cameras or other electronic monitoring devices in personal spaces; hacking personal devices or online accounts; impersonating online or creating fake profiles; intentionally spreading rumors or trying to humiliate in public or online; invading property, trespassing, stealing objects; threatening to destroy property or cause physical harm to the victim or their loved ones, and directly interfering with victim’s personal life, workplace, social network, or job.

The impact on the victim is profound and can lead to lasting damage to physical, mental, and emotional health, which will be discussed in a later article. This article is the first in a series of five that will be published throughout the month of July. Next week, we’ll examine Oregon stalking laws, what changed with the updated law, and what it means for victims and perpetrators.