Susan Michelle Dennison

Identifying stalking: The relevance of intent in commonsense reasoning.

One method of distinguishing stalking from law-abiding behavior is to determine whether the accused intended to cause fear or harm to the target. However, this distinction may not capture community concerns regarding intrusive or harassing behavior. The present research examines the effect of intent, persistence, relationship, and consequences on community perceptions of stalking. Responses of 1,080 members of the community to a series of scenarios indicated that the presence of explicit evidence of intent was not the only way stalking behavior was identified. Behavior was also identified as stalking as a greater degree of persistence was depicted. Females more often than males perceived the behavior as stalking and inferred intent to cause fear or harm. Most participants who identified the behavior as stalking also indicated that it should be illegal. These results may assist in guiding ongoing debates over appropriate stalking legislation and strategies to reduce the incidence of stalking, as well as indicating whether education regarding stalking laws is required.

The big 5 dimensional personality approach to understanding sex offenders

Abstract Although previous research has reported that the incarceration of sex offenders does not significantly reduce re-offending, there is no adequate theory guiding remedial programs for this population. The aim of the present study was to examine whether normal personality variation provides useful theoretical insight into the nature of sex offences against children. The Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R), a measure of the five-factor model (FFM) of personality, was administered to 64 males incarcerated for child sex offences. Sex offenders were categorised into different offender groups comprising incest within the immediate family, incest within step-family and extra familial offence. A comparison group of 33 non-offender males also completed the NEO PI-R. Results indicated that the sex offender groups were significantly higher in Neuroticism and significantly lower in Extraversion and Conscientiousness compared to the non-offender group. Significant differences between the sex offender groups and comparison groups for NEO PI-R facets were also found. The implications of these findings in terms of early identification and treatment are discussed.

Facing Rejection: New Relationships, Broken Relationships, Shame, and Stalking

This study provides a preliminary examination of the relationship among shame-proneness, emotions, and persistent, unwanted courting or pursuit behaviour. A total of 222 undergraduates completed a questionnaire measuring responses to the termination of a relationship or the declining of a date. The Test of Self-Conscious Affect was used to measure shame. Although shame was unrelated to types of intrusive behaviour, individuals who engaged more repetitively in covert pursuit tended to ruminate more over their love interest than did those who rarely engaged in such behaviour. Rumination was positively correlated with shame. Self-harm behaviours and harm toward others were associated with feelings of sadness and depression, and those who engaged more often in harm toward others also reported feelings of anger and jealousy. Conclusions are made regarding the function of shame and other emotions in intrusive behaviour and their potential relevance to treatment of stalkers.

Community perceptions of stalking: What are the fundamental concerns?

The present study sought to examine community conceptions of what constitutes stalking by manipulating the role of intent to cause harm or fear (present or absent), consequences to the victim (extreme fear, moderate fear, no fear) and offender‐victim relationship (stranger, ex‐intimate, acquaintance) in an alleged stalking scenario. 540 participants from the Melbourne (Australia) community read a vignette detailing persistent and potentially harassing conduct by a male directed towards a female. Results indicated that participants classified stalking according to the actions of the accused, such as following, telephoning and watching the target The presence or absence of intentions to cause harm or fear, the consequences to the victim, and the relationship of the target to the accused played no role in the identification of behaviour as stalking. Results are discussed in terms of the fundamental concems of the community and the scope of the criminal law, particularly stalking legislation.

Postrelease Specialization and Versatility in Sexual Offenders Referred for Civil Commitment

Offense specialization and versatility has been explored previously in the prior criminal records of sexual offenders. The present study expanded these findings by examining offense specialization and versatility in the postrelease offending of a sample of sexual offenders referred for civil commitment and released. Criminal versatility (not limiting one’s offending to sexual crime) both before and after commitment was the most commonly observed offending pattern in the sample. Specialist offenders (those for whom sexual offenses constituted more than half of their total number of previous arrests) were more likely than versatile offenders to specialize in sexual offending on release, perhaps indicating that specialization is a stable offending tendency. When compared by referral status, recidivism records indicated that offenders who were committed for treatment were more likely than observed, noncommitted offenders to specialize in sexual offending on release. When compared by offender classification, child molesters and offenders with mixed aged victims were much more likely than rapists and incest offenders to specialize in sexual offending on release.

“Yes, I Do but Not with You”: Qualitative Analyses of Sexual/romantic Overture-Related Aggression in Bars and Clubs

Assaultive and aggressive behaviors related to sexual overtures are common in commercial drinking establishments (bars, pubs, and clubs). In this article, we examined the thematic content of 251 incidents of verbal and physical aggression related to sexual/romantic overtures documented by researcher-observers in a study of Toronto bars and clubs. Aggression was examined as it emerged in the following stages of the social interaction process: (a) sexual/romantic overtures that began aggressively; (b) initiators of sexual/romantic overtures who became aggressive later in the social interaction process; (c) aggression by targets of overtures; and (d) aggression by third parties. From these thematic analyses we identify the distinctions between predatory and genuine overtures and explore the potential role of the effects of alcohol. In these social overtures aggression occurred as part of the initial overture, during the interaction following the overture (i.e., aggression by the person who made the initial overture, by the target or third parties), and in response to rejection by the target. Targets of overtures responded aggressively to perceived inappropriate overtures; third parties played important aggressive and nonaggressive roles; and alcohol intoxication was identified as contributing to aggression in a number of ways. The theoretical significance and practical implications for prevention of the findings are discussed.

Defining Relational Stalking in Research: Understanding Sample Composition in Relation to Repetition and Duration of Harassment

Due to ambiguities in stalking laws and the concept of stalking more generally, it is difficult for researchers to operationalize stalking for the purpose of selecting samples of perpetrators or victims. In an attempt to develop an empirical basis for operationalizing relational stalking, this study examined unwanted intrusions in a community and student sample. Participants (N = 1738) completed a questionnaire assessing the repetition and duration of their unwanted intrusive behaviour following the termination of a relationship or pursuit of a romantic relationship. The consequences of applying different cut-offs of repetition and duration of harassment were examined in relation to the proportion of participants who self-reported intent to frighten, intimidate or harm the target, perceived target fear or harm and the use of violence and/or threats. Engaging in some form of unwanted pursuit was almost normative (75% of the sample). When higher levels of repetition were used to define stalking, the sample comprised participants who reported engaging in more serious forms of intrusive behaviour. Applying different cut-offs of duration appeared to have less of an effect on sample composition than did repetition. Criteria that may help to capture more serious forms of stalking behaviour, as opposed to normative behaviour, are discussed.

The monetary cost of offender trajectories: Findings from Queensland (Australia)

This study assessed the longitudinal costs of offender trajectories in Queensland (Australia) to provide policymakers with evidence that could be used to promote the use of crime prevention programs. Few studies have assessed these costs and minimal research has been conducted outside the United States. The study addressed three research questions: (1) What are the monetary costs of crime? (2) What is the optimal number of offender trajectories in an Australian offender cohort? and (3) What are the monetary costs of officially recorded offending for individuals on different offender trajectories? The Semi-Parametric Group-based Method (SPGM) was used to determine the number of offender trajectories in the Queensland Longitudinal Database. This database included 41,377 individuals who were born in 1983 and 1984 and guilty of offences in Queensland that were committed when aged 10–25 years old. The costs of crime were assessed using two approaches. First, criminal justice system costs were estimated based on the number and type of contacts that individuals had with the criminal justice system as well as the length of any supervision served. Second, wider social and economic costs were assessed based on offence type. Results indicated that there were five offender trajectories, including two chronic, one moderate and two low trajectories. When costs were applied to the offender trajectories, offenders in the two chronic groups were 4.8% of the cohort but accounted for 41.1% of the total costs. On average, each chronic offender cost between

Intimate partner violence: the effect of gender and contextual factors on community perceptions of harm, and suggested victim and criminal justice responses

186,366 and

Developmental Factors in Adolescent Child Sexual Offenders A Comparison of Nonrepeat and Repeat Sexual Offenders

262,799 by the time they turned 26 years old, with 60% of the costs accounted for by the criminal justice system. On average, each chronic offender cost over 20 times more than offenders in the two low offending groups. These findings provide further evidence for the potential benefits of implementing interventions that target chronic offenders.