Stalking by children and adolescents should be taken far more
seriously, according to
new
research published in the May issue of the
British Journal
of Psychiatry.
Psychiatrists and psychologists in Australia
studied almost 300 child and adolescent stalkers. Although stalking
among young people is often dismissed as being relatively rare and
harmless, the researchers actually found that juvenile stalking is
characterised by “far higher levels of threats and violence than
adult stalking”. Of the 299 juvenile stalkers identified in the
study, almost all (98%) pursued a person who was already known to
them.
Unlike stalking among adults, very few
juvenile stalkers were infatuated with their victim or were trying
to impose an unwanted relationship on them. Instead, most of the
cases of stalking were an extension of bullying. Alarmingly, over
half of the victims (54%) were physically attacked – some
sustaining significant injuries. A further 2% suffered serious
sexual assault. Three-quarters (75%) of the victims reported being
threatened. These ranged from veiled threats such as “watch your
back”, to explicit threats to harm, rape or kill. In 15% of cases,
threats of violence had been made against the victim’s family or
friends as well.
A significant minority of the juvenile
stalkers (36%) were female – a far higher proportion than found
among adult stalkers. While male adolescent stalkers mainly pursued
girls, female stalkers tended focused their harassment on other
girls. They also often recruited their friends as accomplices to
the stalking.
Writing in the British Journal of
Psychiatry, the researchers said: “Stalking behaviour in
juveniles has traditionally been trivialised as uncommon and
innocuous. This study provides the first systematic examination of
juvenile stalkers. Juvenile stalking is characterised by direct,
intense, overtly threatening and all too often violent forms of
pursuit.
“The seriousness that is afforded to adult
forms of stalking should similarly apply to this behaviour among
juveniles, given the even greater risks of disruption to the
victim’s life and risks of being attacked.”
For further information, please
contact:
Liz Leicester
or Deborah Hart in the Communications
Department.
Telephone: 020 7235 2351 Extensions. 6298 or 6127
References:
Purcell R, Moller B, Flower T and Mullen PE (2009) Stalking among juveniles, British Journal of Psychiatry, 194: 451-455