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The Dark Side of Relationship Pursuit: From Attraction to Obsession and Stalking

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Authors William R. Cupach and Brian H. Spitzberg synthesize the expanding multidisciplinary base of knowledge about obsessive relational intrusion (ORI) and stalking, presenting a comprehensive scholarly consideration of these behaviors. Their inclusive approach is reflected in the breadth of research represented, including social, clinical and forensic psychology, psychiatry, counseling, communication, criminal justice, law enforcement, sociology, social work, threat assessment and management, and family studies. The work also draws upon the multidisciplinary scholarship on social and personal relationships. The chapters in this volume: * provide historical and definitional frames for studying unwanted relationship pursuit, and consider the role of such sources as the media, law, and social science research in shaping the contemporary multifaceted and multifarious conceptualizations of stalking; * elaborate the authors' assumption that much unwanted relationship pursuit owes to complications inherent in the processes of constructing and dismantling relationships, examine the factors that conspire to create slippage between two persons' conceptions of their "shared" relationship, and explore the cultural practices associated with relationship dissolution that tend to reinforce persistence in unwanted pursuit; * chart the topography of unwanted pursuit, offering a unique and comprehensive synthesis of relevant research bearing on several issues, and a review of the temporal stages and characteristics of stalking; * consider promising theories and variables for explaining the occurrence of unwanted pursuit; and * discuss the issues pertinent to threat assessment, managing unwanted pursuit and offering a comprehensive typology of victim consequences of pursuit. The volume concludes with thoughts about "correcting courtship." Drawing on the interpersonal competence literature, Cupach and Spitzberg speculate on ways in which enhancing relationship management skills could help diminish the incidence and debilitating consequences of ORI and stalking. With this work, the authors provide a clearer picture of the current state of knowledge about stalking, and in so doing, identify productive paths for scholarly inquiry and ultimately bolster the effectiveness of prevention and intervention efforts. The volume is destined to promote and publicize the multidisciplinary nature of stalking research such that cross-fertilization of interested fields might yield new and better insights. It will be required reading for the cross-disciplinary community of academics and professionals who are committed to understanding and responding to unwanted relationship pursuit and stalking.
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... Focusing especially on the relational factors in stalking motivation, Spitzberg and Cupach (2007) argue that there is a significant overlap between stalking and obsessive relational intrusion (ORI) as most of the wide and contradictory motivations for stalking indicate intent to initiate some form of relationship. In a separate study, Cupach and Spitzberg (2004) found evidence to suggest that stalking could be driven by a range of motivations, from love and reconcilement to retribution and terrorization. From these findings, Cupach and Spitzberg (2004) were able to categorise motivations as expressive (emotions such as rage or jealousy) instrumental (retribution, power and control) personological (mental illness, drug addiction) and contextual (end of an intimate relationship, romantic rival). ...
... In a separate study, Cupach and Spitzberg (2004) found evidence to suggest that stalking could be driven by a range of motivations, from love and reconcilement to retribution and terrorization. From these findings, Cupach and Spitzberg (2004) were able to categorise motivations as expressive (emotions such as rage or jealousy) instrumental (retribution, power and control) personological (mental illness, drug addiction) and contextual (end of an intimate relationship, romantic rival). ...
... However, there are substantial variations in findings and perspectives in both areas of research, making the identification of trends and patterns in traditional stalking and cyberstalking difficult. For instance, while there are parallels in motivation for offline stalkers and cyber stalkers such as reconcilement of an intimate relationship and revenge (Cupach and Spitzberg, 2004;Moriarty and Freiberger, 2008;Reno, 1999) no singular motivational typology or theory has been established for either traditional stalking and cyberstalking, with various models on the motives of offline stalkers and cyber stalkers in use (Mullen et al., 1999;Mohandie et al., 2006;McFarlane and Bocij, 2003). This is also evident in occurrence/escalation of violence, with evidence of violence for both offences (Meloy, 2002;King-Ries, 2011;Churcher and Nesca, 2013;Dreßing et al., 2014) but contradicting views on whether physical violence is more prevalent in traditional stalking than cyberstalking or if violence is a major issue in cyberstalking at all Cavezza and McEwan, 2014;Nobles et al., 2014). ...
Research
The primary aim of this study was to investigate the motivation of cyberstalking and how this compared to traditional (offline) stalking. The occurrence of violence and the characteristics of cyber stalkers and victims were also explored as secondary objectives. The findings were examined alongside traditional stalking literature to determine whether these features were distinct or followed trends in offline stalking. To achieve this, a systematic review was carried out using journal articles from Scopus and Google Scholar. Specific criteria for the articles included studies producing primary data, being published before August 2021 and discussing cyberstalking motivation. In total, seventeen articles were collected for data analysis. Analysis was performed using qualitative content analysis wherein codes were informed by previous research and data from the articles. The findings indicated a wide range of motivations for cyberstalking, many of which were related to intimate relationship dynamics, an association also observed in traditional stalking. Nonetheless, results suggested that there were motives specific to cyberstalking, particularly in causing distress to the victim. Furthermore, the findings indicated that incidences of violence were more infrequent for cyberstalking than traditional stalking although the types of violence involved were similar, ranging from minor to serious harm. The characteristics of cyber stalkers and victims were mostly consistent with traditional stalking except for gender and relationship to the victim. Overall, cyberstalking motivation, violence and the characteristics of cyber stalkers and victims were found to be mostly similar to traditional stalking excluding some key differences. This study highlights the variation in cyberstalking motivation and characteristics from traditional stalking, helping to better predict cyberstalking perpetration and victimisation. Lastly, the findings demonstrate that cyberstalking can involve violence, stressing the physical risks to victims despite being based on the internet.
... Proactive behavior has been defined as coping strategies used by victims to solve the situation, such as meeting the cyberstalker face to face, reporting their victimization to third parties and seeking informal or formal help. This strategy is a mixture of coping strategies as categorized by Spitzberg and Cupach [18,21], and it comprises, for example, Moving Against and Moving Outward strategies. Avoidance tactics are referred to as behaviors adopted by victims to cope with the situation by changing their routine and usual activities, for example, the commute to work/home, and deterring the persecutor (for example, closing the own Facebook profile or limiting the view of the Facebook profile). ...
... Avoidance tactics are referred to as behaviors adopted by victims to cope with the situation by changing their routine and usual activities, for example, the commute to work/home, and deterring the persecutor (for example, closing the own Facebook profile or limiting the view of the Facebook profile). These tactics are in accordance with Spitzberg and Cupach's [18,21] Moving Away coping strategy. The third strategy described by Podaná and Imríšková [20] was passivity. ...
... With this strategy, the victim ignores the persecutor, denies the victimization or uses a distraction to not think about the stressful situation. This coping strategy was described by Spitzberg and Cupach [18,21] as Moving Inward. In their investigation, Podaná and Imríšková [20] found that among 147 victims, 47% indicated the use of proactive behavior, 30% avoidance tactics and 23% passivity. ...
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Aims: In the last decade, the use of smartphones, computers and devices has progressively increased, and prolonged use of technology and the internet has generated new arenas (and tools) for victimization. The first aim of this study was to analyze the use of coping strategies in young adult self-declared victims of cyberstalking. The coping strategies were categorized as proactive behavior, avoidance tactics and passivity. To better understand these strategies, they were analyzed in light of the experience of victimization in terms of incurred misconduct. The second aim was to analyze the coping strategies and the consequences (in terms of depression and anxiety) that occurred in victims; a comparison was made between males and females. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to over 433 young adults living in Italy. The questionnaires were filled out by 398 (92%) subjects, 41% males and 59% females. Their ages ranged from 18 to 30 years (M = 23.5, SD = 2.76). Respondents took part on a voluntary basis and did not receive any compensation (or extra credit) for their participation. Results: Findings from this investigation confirmed that among victims, females were more prone than males to experience cyberstalking (respectively, 65% and 35%), with females experiencing a higher percentage of more than one form of cyberstalking behavior than males. Young adult male victims used the internet principally for online gaming, and for this activity, they experienced more cyberstalking behavior than females. In most cases, the perpetrator was a male, and the victim-cyberstalker relationship was a friendship or an acquaintance. For the coping strategies adopted, the findings indicated that the victims were more prone to use avoidance tactics than proactivity behavior and passivity strategies. Young adults involved in this investigation mainly used avoidance tactics to cope with the stressful situation, which implies that they preferred to decrease the use of the internet or stop online contact than collect evidence and try to contact and reason with the cyberstalker or increase the misuse of alcohol of psychotropic substances. Moreover, females were less prone to use proactive behavior than expected. Our findings suggested that males were more prone than females to adopt passivity strategies, while females were more prone to adopt avoidance tactics. Moreover, the data showed that proactivity behavior was adopted more in the case of online contacts and online identity fraud, while passivity strategies were adopted in the case of online threats. Conclusion: Findings from this investigation show the importance of improving the knowledge about the coping strategies that could be suggested to victims and the impact on their psychological health.
... Stalking has also other severe aftereffects for the victim. In general, analysis of impact of stalking for instance indicates that victims often experience sleeping disturbances, anxiety, fear, and anger [35] [36]. ...
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It is proposed that healthcare professionals are prone to be stalked by their patients, but many feel ashamed to talk about it, believing that they might have done something to warrant the stalking. We undertook a rigorous review of the literature with the primitive goal of highlighting noteworthy issues on the stalking of healthcare professionals and psychologists by their patients. Databases such as PubMed and Google Scholar were searched to collate articles and studies on the topic with the keywords “stalker, stalking, assaults, aggression, and physicians”. From the review, the prevalence rate of stalking healthcare professionals ranged between 6% - 53%. This huge variation was largely due to the inconsistencies in the definition of what constituted stalking. The common motives of stalkers were largely due to erotomania or misguided expectation and a sense of resentment due to service dissatisfaction. Finally, it was apparently right to conclude that, medical doctors or healthcare professionals are at risk of being stalked on the grounds of service dissatisfaction, and mismanagement of treatment processes resulting in physical or perceived client injuries. Whereas psychologists and other psychiatrists are more prone to be stalked due to erotomaniac reasons.
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