Stalking Behaviors

typology and manifestations

Abstract

Stalking behaviors are considered every stalker's manifestations towards the victim, running through public and private spaces and occurring through the physical and virtual environments. The stalker is the one who persecutes, harasses and causes damage tothe victim 's life in an incessant and insistent way. The aim of this study was to investigate, bracket and name the various types of the stalking behaviors based on the experience of six young women. A sociodemographic questionnaire and a semi-structuredinterview were applied. Thematic Analysis method was used. They were divided  in  3  main  thematics:  typical  behaviors,  threatening  behaviors  and  bizarre behaviors. The typical ones were characterized mainly by the persecutions, as the face-to-face approaches and inconvenient communications; the threatening ones by threats made by the stalker to harm the victim, either against some aspect of their lives or even a  suicidal  threat;  and  the  bizarre  ones,  specified  by  its  eccentricity,  as  hyper-personalized gift delivery, peculiar affection statements and imitative behaviors. It is understood  that  all  of  the  related  behaviors  cause  diverse  prejudices  toward  the victims. It points out the need for extra attention of future studies, due to the lack of this thematic in the literature.