The psychology of stalking
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What is stalking and how is it defined in modern law?
This is an ABC Radio National Podcast. For full details, abc.net.au slash RN
Hi, welcome to All in the Mind. I'm Lynn Malcolm. This week, the psychology of stalking.
I've never been so frightened in my life. The funny things were like thinking I'm in a spy movie, you know, I'm you know, I'm being followed. You know, so you go another way to try and throw off the You think what am I doing this for? And it was but it's so awful, so bizarre.
It's Carol, remembering the terrifying experience of being stalked. It's the stuff of thrillers on the silver screen for sure. But sadly, it can be a harsh reality for some. Stalking is characterized by imposing on someone else repeated unwanted communication and contact, which can cause extreme distress and fear. It hasn't always been known by that term, but accounts from law courts in London in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries clearly describe this insidious behaviour. But according to Professor Paul Mullen of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health, Stalking is becoming more prevalent.
My guess is it's becoming far more frequent over the last ten, twenty years, and that's what's pushed it into prominence. But also partly chance. Media in particular became interested with those who pursued uh constantly intruded on and occasionally attacked the famous, the so called star stalkers. And this group got a lot of publicity and that's really where the name stalking began. And where the studies began. I mean one of the best portrayals of stalking that we have in art was a film which was produced before we even had the word stalking, and that was uh playmisty for me. But once we began to publicize and start to understand the people who pursued the famous It became increasingly clear that this was just the tip of an iceberg, a very large and sinister iceberg which involved far wider sections of the community than just the famous.
Today we hear Carol's story. It's not her real name, and her voice has been changed to protect her identity. She was a tertiary education teacher and she was stalked over a period of three years by one of her students. As a result, her and her family's life was severely disrupted. And even though it happened fifteen years ago, the fear she felt then is still palpable. And the whole thing seemed to come out of the blue for her.
Well, this person or was in my class and at the end of the course he rang me up and said, Now I'm not in your class anymore, we can go out together. And I just said, What what do you mean? It was just a shock because you don't realise that that he had sat in my class and developed this obsession without knowledge of me and he had a whole world in his head.
But you wouldn't have realised at that stage that it was an obsession. No.
Well yeah, I'm so sorry, no, you know, I'm I'm in a relationship, I'm I mean I'm not interested, you know. That was it as far as I was concerned, but then it was several times, he just kept ringing and ringing. I never even had a social event with this person, never had a coffee, never Nothing. It was always a teacher student relationship in a classroom. But he wouldn't take no.
What else did he do besides ring?
Why are stalking incidents reported as increasing in recent years?
Well
I mean I y I solved the ringing by getting an unlisted phone number. But then it started with postcards and I would get about three a week and they would always always have been posted at the same time every day. And it was always, You sure you don't want to see me, I'd love to see you da da da da and I got letters, copious pages of letters explaining how he wanted to be part of my family and how He wanted a relationship with me. And he also used to send flowers. He used to have bouquets of flowers arrive. I only sent a couple of replies to saying as strongly as I could, do not contact me. I do not want a relationship with you. Go away.
Did he respond to that?
No.
Did he ever follow you?
Uh yes, that was what started to happen next. He would be waiting outside my house, which then used to stop me from going out sometimes, but if you have to go to work you have to
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is stalking and how is it defined in modern law?
0:02–3:53
2
Why are stalking incidents reported as increasing in recent years?
3:53–8:59
3
How does the forensic psychiatrist explain the motives behind stalkers?
8:59–12:19
4
What was Carol’s personal experience of being stalked by a former student?
12:19–15:31
5
How do victims typically respond to unwanted contact and threats?
15:31–22:09
6
What are the different categories of stalkers and their risk of violence?
22:09–28:04
7
How has criminalising stalking changed how society deals with it?
28:04–30:10