IngentaConnect PERCEPTIONS AND PREVALENCE OF STALKING IN A MALE SAMPLE

Authors: SHERIDAN L.¹; GILLETT R.¹; DAVIES G.¹

Source: Psychology, Crime and Law, Volume 8, Number 4, 1 January 2002 , pp. 289-310(22)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

Abstract:

Most research into stalking has focused on males as perpetrators and females as victims. The present study investigated firstly how males perceive the crime of stalking and secondly the prevalence of stalking and other intrusive activities in a male population. A sample of 210 British men was asked to indicate which of a continuum of 42 behaviours they believed to represent stalking. Clear subtypes of perceived stalking were identified, and these did not significantly differ from those produced by a female sample in earlier work (Sheridan, Davies and Boon, 2001). Thus, male and females hold similar views on which activities do and do not constitute 'stalking'. Respondents were then asked to indicate whether they had personal experience of the same 42 behaviours and if they had, to provide free narrative on their 'worst experience'. As expected, males reported substantially less experience of intrusive behaviour than females, and just 5.2% were judged to have suffered 'stalking'. Whilst this figure is significantly below estimates made for females, it still indicates a notable risk for males and suggests that complaints of stalking made by males should be taken as seriously as those made by females.

Keywords: Stalking; Harassment; Male stalking victims; Male versus female perceptions of stalking

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: School of Psychology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom

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