STALKING BEHAVIOR

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Early Childhood Indicators of Abusive Behavior
• Psychological Profiling for Stalkers
• Profiles for Battered/Abused Women
• Risk Assessment
• Strategies for Intervention
• Stalking Behavior
• Legal Responses
• Agency Response and Interventions

1. EARLY CHILDHOOD INDICATORS OF ABUSIVE BEHAVIOUR

1. While information concerning the offenders childhood or adolescence may not be available to the investigator, field experts contend that such knowledge may be useful for police in making some general assessments of risk to the victim.
2. It is well established that children who themselves were subject to abuse, have a very high risk of developing into abusers themselves.
3. The person's childhood, rearing, previous experiences, being abusive at the beginning of the marriage, are strong indicators of temper control problems and abuse. These behaviours will escalate without treatment.

2. PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILING FOR STALKERS

1. Stalkers exhibit these common behaviours

1. History of violence
2. Previous history of violence against the victim
3. Possession or access to weapons
4. Threatening, destructive behaviour
5. Issuing threats
6. Substance Abuse
7. Abusive family environment, past history
8. Loner, outsider behaviour

2. Psychological profiles exist for various categories of offenders. These profiles are useful as probability predictors of future violence or the severity of such violence but are not completely exclusive categories. Individuals with no clear history of pathological behaviour may become violent or engage in stalking behaviour.

3. PROFILES FOR BATTERED / ABUSED WOMEN

1. There are a number of qualities in common:

1. fear of retaliation
2. financial dependence
3. still loves him, and feels she can change him
4. their fathers more times than not are abusive
5. they leave many times before going for good
6. easily manipulated by offender

4. RISK ASSESSMENT

1. There was research done in the 1980's on what was known as the "frustration - aggression paradigm. Basically external blocks to someone attaining their goals results in elevated levels of aggression. In this situation, he could not charm her back, hence he starts to harass her. He threatened to kill her. A pattern emerges.

2. The description given by the complainant of her husband suggests several indicators of a potentially dangerous situation. This suspect is clearly capable of violence given his history of violence.

Not only does he have a violent background, but in addition, he is a possessive, jealous type, who is into control of his wife and will feel desperate when faced with the prospect that he is going to loose her. Clearly in addition to his violence and controlling nature, he has an alcohol abuse problem which will undoubtedly exacerbate his personality problems.

3. The wife should be believed. She has profiled the violent life style and background of the offender, and his threatening behaviour. The risk to her life is very real.

4. In abusive relationships the level of violence often escalates and/ or becomes cyclical in nature involving quiet periods interspersed with episodes of violence.

Individuals with a predisposition toward violence could be expected to act out aggressively when their life stresses increase.

5. STRATEGIES FOR INTERVENTION

1. Women who live in abusive relationships have a sense of lack of power and control over their situation. Their abusive spouse has persistently worked at lowering their self esteem and potential for independence. Often they are further frustrated by society's failure to provide support or understanding of their needs.

Doctors want to prescribe medication to them. Family tells them to respect family values and stay with their partners; they think "he will change". Often these women are also bound to their spouse through economic dependence.

 

Police should offer support, knowledge, be responsive to their needs, refer to transition houses, be empathic and have a good idea of available resources. Avoid re-victimization!

2. Police officers should be prepared to be patient with battered women and to accept that it often takes considerable time, effort and psychological support for a woman to leave an abusive relationship.

3. Police officers must demonstrate a high level of sensitivity to the feelings of helplessness and fear suffered by these victims. They should appreciate that conflicted and contradictory feelings and actions may occur on the part of the victim and follow-up thoroughly with the investigation. Police should attempt to contact and confront the offender with their behaviour as soon as possible after a complaint is received. This serves the dual purpose of reassuring the victim and may provide a strong deterrent to further aggressive actions with the more marginal stalker.

4. Early intervention is vital. "You can throw a brick at him now, or the ERT team can throw a grenade later. The victim has to be believed. Recently a young couple came into a large detachment and reported that the man's former wife was stalking them. They were told; " You give us blood, we'll respond."

5. Regardless of how busy the police are, their is strong evidence that the behaviour is escalating, and that rather than acting on another "domestic" they could be preventing a murder. The member could ensure she gets a tapped line and the radio room should be alerted that a 911 call means business.

6. STALKING BEHAVIOUR

1. Stalkers typically follow, harass, threaten and intimidate their victims. They often engage in what has been deemed psychological terrorism - engendering an extreme sense of fear and hopelessness.

2. Stalkers may or may not lose interest in their targets. They sometimes stop this pattern of behaviour toward a target then re-initiate the activity later ( sometimes years later) toward the same or another victim.

3. Criminal harassment is defined under the Criminal Code as:

Section 264(1). No person shall, without lawful authority and with intent to harass another person or recklessly as to whether the other person is harassed, engage in conduct referred to in subsection (2) that causes that other person reasonably to fear for their safety or the safety of anyone known to them.

 

Section 264(2). The conduct mentioned in subsection (1) consists of

 

(a) repeatedly following from place to place the other person or anyone known to them;

(b) repeatedly communicating with, either directly or indirectly, the other person or anyone known to them;

(c) besetting or watching the dwelling house, or place where the other person, or anyone known to them, resides, works, carries on business or happens to be; or

(d) engaging in threatening conduct directed at the other person or any member of their family.

7. LEGAL RESPONSES

1. As above, section 264 C.C. provides charge.

2. Restraining Orders are extremely important in providing protection to the complainant. Although never a guarantee that they will be absolutely effective in keeping the suspect away from the victim, certainly they are a first step in ensuring this is the case.

Protective terms (whether made as terms of bail, probation or by virtue of a s.810 recognizance application) may indeed be enforced if there is a breach of the protection terms. Where an accused is arrested and brought before the court for breach of the terms a courts the court originally set, they will be reluctant to release a suspect again if he is not prepared to abide by the terms. Although there will always be some suspects that are willing to disregard the terms of a restraining order it is an important first step.

 

The role of the police is to assist in taking a report to support requests for s.810 peace bond or other criminal offence and to ensure that any breach is investigated in a expeditious fashion and the accused is arrested.

8. AGENCY RESPONSE

1. There are no community resources available for abusive males unless they are court ordered to attend such a program.

2. Communities offer transition houses and counselling for battered women and their children. Dependent upon location and the availability of funding.

3. Some communities offer outreach counsellors, do provide assistance in the home environment.

4. In some communities there are services to assist children who are witnesses to violence cope with their concerns.

5. Police based victim services agencies across the country are growing more aware of this particular issue, and have now for some years provide support to battered women.

Victim services can identify appropriate agencies for counselling and assistance in the community.

9. INTERVIEWING

1. The presence of young children during an interview concerning a serious incident presents problems to the mother, the interviewer and the child. The mother is often distracted by the child and the continuity of the interview will be difficult to maintain. The mother may be reluctant to give explicit details of physical or sexual violence in front of the children. The child may be distressed by listening to his/her mother discuss his father's violence and also by her distress when describing the details of the case. Whenever possible children should be excluded from the interview.

2. In terms of ensuring the victim feels safer it should be canvassed with her if she can make alternative arrangements for living. While technically she should not have to move into a transition house or move in with friends, as a practical matter this may assist her in feeling safe until the suspect is taken into custody and detained.

3. The presence of other persons such as Victim Services workers for support during the taking of statements is not a good strategy. There is the potential that the defence could interpret such actions as leading or prompting the victim.

Victim services will offer support after the statement is taken, support for whatever decisions she makes, and court accompaniment if it is required.

© GRC - RCMP
ecdp0046.doc
August 13, 1997