STALKING (OBSESSIONAL FOLLOWING) - A REVIEW OF SOME PRELIMINARY STUDIES

Obsessional following is a ''stalking'' behavior in which a person eng ages in an abnormal or long-term pattern of threat or harassment direc ted toward a specific individual. In a review of preliminary research during the past 20 years, the author finds 10 studies, all nonrandom s amples of convenience, published between 1978 and 1995 in which obsess ional followers charged with criminal behavior or investigated by law enforcement (N = 180) were identified. Aggregate data from these studi es suggest that obsessional followers were likely to be males in their mid to late thirties with prior psychiatric and criminal histories. T here was often a chronic history of failed heterosexual relationships and unemployment, but on average the subjects were more intelligent th an other criminal offenders. Axis I mental disorders and Axis II perso nality disorders were common and varied Approximately one-half of obse ssional followers threatened the victims, but usually were not physica lly violent. Frequency of any personal violence, depending on the stud y, was 3-36%. Incidence of homicide was less than 2%. The author theor izes that obsessional followers, perhaps a subset of stalkers in gener al, evidence abnormal, ''preoccupied'' attachment patterns their pursu it fueled by a disturbance in their narcissistic fantasy linking them to their victims. Such disruption is usually caused by an acute or chr onic rejection that stimulates rage as a defense against shame.