NCJ Number
184458
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 15 Issue: 1 Dated: Spring 2000 Pages: 7-22
Date Published
2000
Length
16 pages
Annotation
A national telephone survey asked 8,000 men and 8,000 women about their experiences with stalking victimization using both direct questions that contained the word stalking and questions that behaviorally specific; the study aimed to aid understanding of how legal definitions and victim definitions intersect and diverge.
Abstract
The data came from the National Violence Against Women Survey. The survey took place from November 1995 to May 1996 and used random-digit dialing to households in all 50 States and the District of Columbia. Approximately 2.2 percent of the men and 8.1 percent of the women reported being stalked at least once in their lifetime, based on behaviorally specific questions. In comparison, 6.2 percent of the men and 12.1 percent of the women responded affirmatively to the question about whether they had ever been stalked. Thus, male stalking prevalence rates nearly tripled and female prevalence rates increased by 50 percent when participants had the opportunity to self-define as stalking victims. However, victim definitions of stalking tend to converge with the model antistalking code’s definition in the vast majority of cases. Only 4 percent of the survey participants defined themselves as stalking victims but failed to meet the legal definition of a stalking victim. A negligible proportion denied being stalked, although they met the legal definition of a stalking victim. Tables, notes, and 50 references (Author abstract modified)