Stalkers and their Victims

Stalking is now a major social and legal issue, as well as a clinical problem for mental health professionals. This absorbing and informative book draws on the authors’ extensive experience of working with stalkers and their victims in the clinical setting. Topics covered include: • The growing recognition of stalking as an issue of public, legal and scientific concern • The definition, classification and epidemiology of stalking • The impact on victims, and how this may be reduced • Same-gender stalking, stalking by proxy, workplace stalking, and the stalking of professionals, such as doctors and teachers • The association of stalking with physical and sexual assault • Anti-stalking laws internationally • Support and practical advice for victims • Assessing and managing the stalker With many case histories, and an approach that is at once scholarly and highly practical, this will be the definitive guide and reference for anyone with a professional or academic interest in this complex behaviour.

• Timely - stalking is rapidly gaining the status of a major social problem and anti-stalking legislation is being enacted internationally • Thorough-going examination of stalkers and their victims, based on the extensive clinical experience of an eminent team of authors • A practical guide to management and a highly accessible text based around case histories and direct accounts from stalkers and their victims

Introduction; 1. Stalking - a new categorisation of human behaviour; 2. The epidemiology of stalking; 3. The victims of stalkers; 4. Classifying stalkers; 5. The rejected stalker and the resentful stalker; 6. The predatory stalker; 7. Intimacy seekers and incompetent suitors; 8. The erotomanias and the morbid infatuations; 9. Same gender stalking; 10. Stalking by proxy; 11. False victims of stalking; 12. Stalking and assault; 13. Reducing the impact of stalking; 14. Defining and prosecuting the offence of stalking; 15. Assessing and managing the stalker; Conclusions; Appendix; References; Index.

‘Stalkers and their Victims is a brilliant fusion of cutting-edge scientific research and riveting clinical account. Written with genuine eloquence, argued with unfailing insight, and suffused with compassion, the book ups the ante on all future work on stalking. An extraordinary scholarly accomplishment of both international and enduring significance.’ John Monahan, University of Virginia

‘There is little doubt that this book will remain for many years the definitive account of one of the pathological phenomena of our fractured times, of gripping fascination to lay and professional readers alike.’ Anthony W. Clare

‘The book is a beautiful illustration of what can be achieved with remarkably few resources and a genuinely academic approach to psychiatric practice. Stalkers and Their Victims will undoubtedly be the definitive volume on this topic for some time to come. It is scholarly, practical, educational, and well written. It will almost certainly cross the lay-professional barrier in a way that is both revealing and dignified, thus assisting in communication between an increasingly embattled psychiatric profession and a hostile public.’ John Gunn, British Medical Journal

‘The authors manage the difficult task of providing a very detailed, well referenced, balanced text which is accessible to a wide audience. One expects a book from distinguished authors to be scholarly and comprehensive, but this one also makes enjoyable reading. Whatever your interest in stalking is, you are likely to find an up-to-date reference in this publication. Stalkers and their Victims is likely to be the definitive text on the subject for some time to come. It will be of great interest to clinicians, students, and the lay reader and sets a very high standard for others wishing to write about the topic.’ J Murray Wright, Medical Journal of Australia

‘In just a few years Paul Mullen and Michele Pathé have established themselves as world authorities on stalkers and their victims. Stalkers and their Victims will undoubtedly be the definitive volume on this topic for some time to come. It is scholarly, practical, educational and well written.’ John Gunn, British Medical Journal

‘This is an excellent review of the recently recognized field of stalking.’ David M. Montani, www.doody.com

‘… Paul Mullen and his colleagues have produced this scholarly, yet most readable, book. I found the book fascinating, illuminating and useful. It clarifies issues in this emotive area and throws light on the phenomenon in a way no other publication has done up to now.’ Padmal de Silva, Sexual and Relationship Therapy

‘This book has managed to successfully combine the psychological, psychiatric, legal and even some of the popular literature. it may be recommended, therefore, to anyone who either aims to make a brief foray into the stalking literature or who plans to undertake work of their own in this area … an excellent sourcebook for anyone with an interest in stalking - be they a researcher, clinician, or an individual who would like to further their understanding of a new and interesting area … easily accessible, well illustrated with case examples, and represents an up-to-date compendium of fact, research and argument.’ Applied Cognitive Psychology

‘This book is a refreshing and useful research resource. It deals with a difficult to accept but very necessary area of understanding for the sake of present-day society. It guides the reader towards developing an understanding of some of the most difficult forms of deviant behaviour, universally rejected though little understood. The test makes a worthwhile contribution to this area of forensic psychiatry.’ Mark Hutchings, Law Society Journal

‘… enormously practical survey of virtually all of the relevant issues in the area. Its chapters provide state-of-the-art information on the epidemiology of stalking, effects on victims, types of stalkers, assessing the risk of assault, ways of helping victims … and assessment and management of stalkers themselves … extraordinarily useful discussions of topics which would otherwise be quite inaccessible, even for the specialist reader, including the problem of false victims, special types of stalking behaviour … and the legal responses of jurisdictions in the USA, UK and Australia … recommended not only for forensic clinicians (whether specialist or occasional). It also needs to be read by mental health workers, particularly those in training, who wonder if psychiatric research encompasses anything more than drug trials or who cannot find any mention of patients on flow-charts depicting service delivery.’ Australia and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry

‘Whatever your interest in stalking is, you are likely to find an up-to-date reference in this publication.’ 2000 Medical Journal of Australia

‘The style is clear and readable. It is likely to attract professional and lay readers alike … currently the best text on this topic.’ Claire Barkley, International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

‘One of the great strengths of this text is its accessibility. The entire work is written in a clear and elegant format, and all major points are illustrated by (often extended) case examples … this is an excellent sourcebook for anyone with an interest in stalking - be they a researcher, clinician, or an individual who would like to further their understanding of a new and interesting area.’ Applied Cognitive Psychology

‘This is a marvellous book, catholic in its intellectual sources, generous to other clinicians and researchers, modest in its claims - and through all that, very human. It will prove (it already has) a valuable resource to psychiatrists and others working with this group.’ James Anderson, Psychological Medicine

‘This excellent book will be welcomed by all those working in the field of mental health, whether psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers or psychiatric nurses.’ A. Seva, European Journal of Psychiatry