Stalked: The Human Target: Stories of People Pursued by Stalkers and the Devastating Effects on Their Lives - Softcover

Cassidy, Rachel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1925682498 ISBN 13: 9781925682496

Verlag: ROCKPOOL PUB, 2019

Inhaltsangabe

Stalked is a detailed account of the effects of stalking, which is experienced by a shockingly high proportion of the population. Celebrities like David Letterman and Madonna are the highest profile targets of stalkers, but ordinary people are also targeted, harassed and bullied.

Rachel Cassidy, herself the target of a stalker, tells the stories of people who have been pursued by stalkers and the devastating effects that has had on their lives. To an outsider, the stalker's actions may appear to be minor indiscretions, but the unwanted constant attention, relentless harassment, and utter terror of being a human target can have chilling cumulative effects. Sometimes the stalker's behavior becomes violent. Dancing with the Stars judge Mark Wilson had two dancing schools burned to the ground and his career destroyed. The man who stalked Jodie Foster attempted to assassinate President Reagan to gain her attention.

With the assistance of forensic psychologists who have worked with stalkers and their targets, and lawyers and police who have represented and protected the people pursued, the author explores the psychopathology of stalkers, surveys the laws that deal with stalking behaviors, and looks at cyberstalking. In the final section, Cassidy discusses how to survive a stalker and build a new life of achievement and hope.

Stalked is a perceptive analysis of stalking from the inside--told by the targets, the stalkers, and the experts who deal with the havoc wreaked by the people who harass or persecute others with unwanted and obsessive attention.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Rachel Cassidy has been involved in the not-for-profit sector for over 20 years, working with various causes for the health and well-being of women and children and on World Reconciliation Day events with Nelson Mandela. She is the CEO of the Anti-Bullying Council Foundation, a national charity in Australia that provides support to victims who have been stalked, targeted, or bullied. She is also an Australia Day Ambassador and serves on the Lord Mayor's Melbourne Awards board. Rachel has been recognized for her charity work as a finalist in the 2009 Australian of the Year awards and received the Patch Adams Humanitarian of the Year award in 1999.

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Stalked

The Human Target

By Rachel Cassidy

Rockpool Publishing Pty Ltd

Copyright © 2018 JD Leo Pty Ltd
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-925682-49-6

Contents

Foreword, 
Preface, 
Introduction, 
Part I, 
1. What Is Stalking?, 
2. How Victims Are Affected, 
3. Targeting the Young, 
Part II, 
4. Lies and Accusations, 
5. A Crazed Fan, 
6. In the Same Business, 
7. Physically Threatened, 
8. Suffering from Childhood, 
9. Dangerously Jealous, 
10. The Big Mistake, 
Part III, 
11. If You Are Being Stalked, 
12. Laws Against Stalking, 
Appendices, 
Appendix 1. Why Do They Do It?, 
Appendix 2. The Incidence of Stalking Around the World, 
Appendix 3. Resources, 
Further Reading, 
Acknowledgements, 

CHAPTER 1

What is Stalking?

For more than 13 years Associate Professor Troy McEwan has worked with people who stalk, 'originally as part of my doctoral research and then subsequently as both an assessing and treating psychologist, and as a researcher.' For her doctorate, she 'was supervised by Professor Paul Mullen, who was one of the first people in the world to undertake research into stalking in the 1990s,' she explains. 'I chose to continue my involvement with both research and practice in the area of stalking for a few different reasons. A close colleague asked me to co-write a manual for assessing stalkers immediately after the conclusion of my doctoral thesis. That led to continued research and to my ongoing clinical specialisation in this area.

'Understanding why someone chooses to act in this way, and to continue to act in this way in spite of all opposition, is fascinating to me, both as a clinician and a researcher,' Troy McEwan says. In this chapter, she defines the breadth of behaviours that make up stalking and its prevalence, looks at types of stalkers, why they do it and how victims are affected.

Stalking defined

Stalking is a constellation of behaviours by one person that targets another. The contact or communication with the target is unwanted and repeated, and causes some level of distress, fear and/or harm. It is defined by its repetitive pattern – one-off unwanted behaviour does not constitute stalking. A range of behaviours might be part of a pattern of stalking, from otherwise-innocuous actions such as emailing, leaving gifts or visiting the target at home or work, through to actions that would be crimes in themselves, such as threatening or physically assaulting someone. The most commonly reported stalking behaviours are unwanted telephone calls, emails and physical approaches to the target. In fact, the behaviours that make up stalking are really only limited by the stalker's imagination, which can mean that it can be very difficult for the target of the stalking to get people to believe the very odd things that the stalker is doing.

As a recognised behaviour, stalking is a relatively new phenomenon. It was only defined as a problem in the 1980s, after a number of high-profile cases that led to very serious or even fatal violence. It has been a crime in almost all English-speaking jurisdictions since the 1990s. This recognition that stalking could be seen as a crime was preceded by significant social changes that included the increased awareness of and prosecution of violence against women and domestic violence, both of which have relevance to stalking. There was also an increasing intolerance towards and fear of violence, along with increasing fear of crime more generally in the wake of the emergence of 'tough-on-crime' politics.

Classifying stalkers' behaviours

Stalking can occur in many different situations and relationships. Because of how varied stalking can be, a lot of different systems have been developed to classify stalking so it can be more easily understood. One typology that is widely used to classify stalkers and their behaviours was developed in the 1990s by Paul Mullen, Michele Pathé and Rosemary Purcell, based on their work with the perpetrators and victims. This is useful in practice because the different types are associated with different outcomes and ways of managing the behaviour.

This classification system describes three characteristics of stalking; this combination of characteristics produces five stalker 'types'. The three aspects are: the nature of the prior relationship between stalker and target; the apparent initial motivation for contact between the stalker and target, and the presence and nature of any mental illness of the stalker. The classifications are not perfect or mutually exclusive, and some cases do not fit any of the identified types. But these types do help to build an understanding of a case and can guide the kinds of questions that should be asked of the stalker and the victim.

The first type is the rejected stalker. This group begins to stalk after the breakdown of a close relationship, usually an intimate sexual relationship (however brief), but it can also emerge from the breakdown of a familial relationship, a close friendship or even a long-standing therapeutic relationship with a counsellor. The stalking is motivated by a desire to resume the relationship, take revenge for its end or, commonly, a combination of both. It is unusual for stalkers in this group to experience severe mental illnesses, although often depression and substance misuse is observed around the time of the stalking as the person struggles to cope with the loss of the relationship. The rejected stalker may have an underlying personality disorder.

The resentful stalker type is somewhat different in that they target strangers or acquaintances whom they perceive to have mistreated them in some way (or because they represent an organisation that has provoked their wrath). The stalking is motivated by a desire to right the perceived wrong. These stalkers are often very self-righteous and feel justified in their actions. Over time the stalking becomes a way of regaining a sense of power and control. Often these stalkers present with personality disorders or severe mental illness with paranoid delusions.

The incompetent suitor stalker wants an intimate relationship but lacks the social skills and/or desirability to establish one successfully. This group targets strangers or acquaintances whom they find attractive and the stalking usually commences in a gauche attempt to get a date. They can become angry and aggressive if their attempts are rebuffed, but they persist in spite of all attempts to dissuade them in the belief that they will eventually succeed. Some in this group are extremely egocentric and do not understand why someone would refuse their advances. Many do not suffer from any mental disorder, but disorders that impact on social skills, such as autism spectrum and developmental disorders, are not uncommon.

The intimacy-seeking stalker is in pursuit of a relationship too, and also targets strangers and acquaintances. However, their pursuit is marked by intense feelings of love for the target and they seek love in return. Often such feelings are driven by the symptoms of a mental illness characterised by delusions about the target (who, for example, they may believe is their husband or wife). In some cases the stalker is just intensely infatuated and believes that the longed-for love will eventuate if only they persist. Severe personality disorders are not uncommon in this group.

The predatory stalker targets strangers, or less frequently acquaintances, with the goal of achieving...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: ROCKPOOL PUB
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2019
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1925682498
• ISBN 13: 9781925682496
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 304
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: KreGa Onlinehandel GmbH; 4950000000000; info@krega-onlinehandel.de; ; Birkenweg 31; Brakel; 33034; Deutschland