Stalking is legally defined as “any course of conduct that puts a person in fear of his or her safety”. It is unwelcome contact between stalker and his or her prey that either directly or indirectly, overt or secret harms, stirs up fear or threatens to do so. The particular actions stalkers choose to utilize depend on the cleverness and imagination and originality of the stalker.

Incidents of stalking differ from case to case, but law enforcement agencies, researchers, and forensic psychologists have identified a few core thought patterns and motivations that they’ve been able to categorize.

Simple Obsessional

This is said to make up more than 70% of stalking cases. This form of stalking stems from a relationship between the offender and victim, that goes bad. Or the stalker believes that he or she is being ill-treated and tries to fix the relationship or seek revenge.

Love Obsessional

This is said to make up more than 20% of stalking cases. Victims of this form of stalking are very likely to be famous or known through the media. Perpetrators have symptoms which indicate a psychiatric disorder, and several delusions, one of which is that their victims are in love with them. The stalker can also be obsessed with the idea of a romantic relationship with his or her target without believing that the victim has those same feelings. Either way, the behaviors are an attempt to capture the attention of the victim.

Erotomania (as diagnosed by the DSM-IV, 4th ed.)

There is no sexual attraction; instead the stalker believes there is a romantic or spiritual connection that makes his or her victim a soulmate. The offending individual might imagine that the victim is in love. The target is usually of a higher status and can be a stranger. The obsession can be kept quiet or there may be efforts to make contact with the victim. Law enforcement often becomes aware of the stalking when an attempt is made to “save” the victim from an imagined danger. The ridiculous claim by the stalker, that he or she was saving the victim from danger, is likely the result of paranoia or schizophrenia. 

Five other categories were identified by clinicians, two of which closely resemble simple obsessional and love obsessional. Researchers came up with these definitions based on the desires and motivations of the stalkers.

Rejected

The behaviors closely match the description of the simple obsessional stalker. After attempts are made to contact or initiate a relationship with the victim, feelings of loss, anger, frustration, jealousy, ill-will, and depression trouble this stalker.

Intimacy Seeker

This category mirrors the erotomania and love obsessional types. The stalker has delusions that the victim desires a close, loving relationship. The victim is idealized as the stalker’s perfect match – one true love. The pursuer might suffer from mania, schizophrenia or has morbid thoughts.

Incompetent (which on another site is termed “delusional”)

This person has limited intelligence, is socially unskilled and immature, and can’t develop or maintain intimate relationships because of his or her lack in dating skills. Nonetheless, this person believes that he is destined or deserves to be with the victim. It’s possible that the person has engaged in stalking behavior before. This is different than the other types because the stalker is not infatuated or obsessed with any quality of his victim. He just wants an intimate relationship with the target and doesn’t necessarily think the feeling is mutual.

Resentful (which on another site is termed “vengeful”)

The intention of this stalker is to scare or distress the victim. She feels that there was an injustice against her and wants revenge. Whether this offense really occurred or not the stalker is angry and has to even the score.

Predatory

This form of stalking involves power and control. They learn about the victim, mentally devise a plan to attack or carry out their strategies for stalking and controlling their prey. Most predatory stalkers are diagnosed as paraphilias (they engage in deviant sexual behaviors), or are likely to have been convicted of a sexual offense in the past.

Depending on the site you visit, you may come across different terms or categories for stalkers. But some things remains consistent – stalkers victimize people to pay them back for a real or fantasized wrongdoing on the part of the victim, and the less you know the stalker, the more deranged he or she is likely to be.

Behavior Pattern
Some stalkers may stick with the beginning phases of stalking, others go back-and-forth, or can jump from one stage to another with no warning. The unpredictability of stalkers makes it difficult for law enforcement to devise a method of defense. The general pattern is as follows:

• The stalker tries to create a relationship or re-establish a previous relationship.
• When they get let down, attempts are made to entice and flatter the future victim with flowers, cards, gifts, love letters etc.
• Intimidation is used when the unwelcome advances are denied in the way of unfounded jealousy or intrusion in the life of the victim.
• A persistent pattern develops. The harassment can evolve into threatening behaviors, blatant or not.
• In stalking cases that get to this point can end in violence and/or murder.

What Does Stalking Look Like?

• Calls to your home, cell phone or work when you’ve repeatedly asked him or her to stop.
• Obscene or threatening voicemail or machine messages.
• Drive-bys (home, gym, work) .
• Unexpectedly showing up at places you normally go .
• Appearing at places you don’t normally go meaning s/he followed you.
• Contact or threats to friends, family, neighbors or people at work .

Demographics

Each stalker is different. Generally men stalk women. These people are young to middle-age men with above average intelligence. The race, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. don’t seem to be predictors of a stalker.

 

False Victimization Syndrome (FVS)

Some delusional stalkers will actually feel like victims and may report being stalked to the police. This is called “projective identification” because they are placing their characteristics onto the victim. False victimization is rare and wastes the time and valuable resources of law enforcement agencies. In these cases, the real stalker is typically the one who begins any conflict between him and the victim by inventing claims that the victim has been doing the stalking (the stalker may be able to convince people of the victim’s guilt, although the target may not have known the stalker existed if the false claims hadn’t begun).

The goal is to re-establish a failed relationship or gain the attention of his prey. The stalker is made to feel inferior, unwanted or victimized, so he or she develops a plan to get even. By ruining the reputation of the target, the stalker feels he or she will be on a more even playing field. This is supposed to ease the blow to the stalker’s self-esteem. In severe cases, the feeling of inferiority and low self-esteem can lead to the victim’s murder.