Criminal Risk Assessment, Stalking

Stalking can be defined as a pattern of targeted, repeated, and unwanted intrusive acts that can be reasonably expected to cause apprehension, distress, or fear. Stalking victims frequently experience a significant psychological harm, and approximately one third are physically assaulted. Given the damage associated with prolonged or violent stalking, key concerns for criminal justice agencies are accurate assessment and identification of those stalkers most likely to continue to stalk, stalk again in the future, or become physically violent. Risk assessment has therefore been a key focus of stalking research, and two structured risk assessment instruments for stalking now exist. This entry describes the development of the stalking risk assessment literature, identifies challenges when assessing stalking risks, and reviews risk factors that have been empirically linked ...