People are misinformed about stalking and this is in part due to the myths and dominant perceptions of stalking. Some studies suggested that stalking can be seen as normal masculine behavior, in regards to the hegemonic masculinity ideals of aggression and power over women (Davis & Frieze, 2000; Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). Since there may be praise for male aggression, men may get away with stalking because it can be seen as natural masculine behavior (Davis & Frieze, 2000). It is also suggested that “stalking-like behavior” may be seen as regular courtship behavior according to some people (Davis & Frieze, 2000). This is troubling because it normalizes stalking as something masculine and minimizes stalking as something relating to regular
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Huffman and Overton (2013) suggest that since women are going to be the most likely victims of stalking, stalking is primarily a women’s issue. Stalking and violence against women is caused by the patriarchal power of men over women (Huffman & Overton, 2013). Since men under patriarchy expect to have control and dominance over women, some men may stalk their current or former intimate partners if they feel jealous or desire to exert control over the woman. Another suggested cause of stalking pertains to psychopathology, and the cluster B personality disorders (narcissistic, borderline, histrionic, antisocial). Davis and Frieze (2000) state that evidence depicts how stalking a current or former intimate partner is related to psychological and physical abuse. This further relates to the typologies of the people who are likely to commit this abuse and to stalk a former partner. The typologies Davis and Frieze (2000) related to this are the cluster B personality disorders. This is further supported by Dressing, Foerester, and Gass’s (2011) article on the psychopathology of stalking. Dressing et al. (2011) indicate that most stalkers do not suffer from a psychosis-related mental illness. This implies that most stalkers know perfectly well what they are doing and have made the conscious choice to stalk, since they do not have a psychotic illness that hinders their psychology and sense of …show more content…
Since Danny and I were fairly close friends for at least a year, when I suddenly broke up the friendship (although with good reason), this really upset Danny. Danny also did not have many friends in high school and was definitely more of a “loner” type. He was frequently made fun of at school, so when he lost one of his few friends, this was enough of a strain for him to be affected by. The result of the strain of loss of friendship upset him enough to engage in stalking as criminal behavior. Since Danny felt rejected by more than just one person, it is likely he acted out against this rejection and wanted to force the friendship back together. Agnew’s theory also considers the fact that the impact of strain differs according to its duration, magnitude, and if the strain was recent (Walsh, 2012). Since the friendship was broken that summer and he began stalking immediately after for at least a month, the broken friendship seemed much more serious at first since it was recently occurring. Since Danny also felt rejected most of the time by classmates from school, further rejection hurt his feelings even more. In this scenario the conventional response would have been to move on and find a new friend, but Danny took part in a deviant response instead (Miller et al., 2008). Other conventional responses that are socially appropriate would have been
Huffman and Overton (2013) suggest that since women are going to be the most likely victims of stalking, stalking is primarily a women’s issue. Stalking and violence against women is caused by the patriarchal power of men over women (Huffman & Overton, 2013). Since men under patriarchy expect to have control and dominance over women, some men may stalk their current or former intimate partners if they feel jealous or desire to exert control over the woman. Another suggested cause of stalking pertains to psychopathology, and the cluster B personality disorders (narcissistic, borderline, histrionic, antisocial). Davis and Frieze (2000) state that evidence depicts how stalking a current or former intimate partner is related to psychological and physical abuse. This further relates to the typologies of the people who are likely to commit this abuse and to stalk a former partner. The typologies Davis and Frieze (2000) related to this are the cluster B personality disorders. This is further supported by Dressing, Foerester, and Gass’s (2011) article on the psychopathology of stalking. Dressing et al. (2011) indicate that most stalkers do not suffer from a psychosis-related mental illness. This implies that most stalkers know perfectly well what they are doing and have made the conscious choice to stalk, since they do not have a psychotic illness that hinders their psychology and sense of …show more content…
Since Danny and I were fairly close friends for at least a year, when I suddenly broke up the friendship (although with good reason), this really upset Danny. Danny also did not have many friends in high school and was definitely more of a “loner” type. He was frequently made fun of at school, so when he lost one of his few friends, this was enough of a strain for him to be affected by. The result of the strain of loss of friendship upset him enough to engage in stalking as criminal behavior. Since Danny felt rejected by more than just one person, it is likely he acted out against this rejection and wanted to force the friendship back together. Agnew’s theory also considers the fact that the impact of strain differs according to its duration, magnitude, and if the strain was recent (Walsh, 2012). Since the friendship was broken that summer and he began stalking immediately after for at least a month, the broken friendship seemed much more serious at first since it was recently occurring. Since Danny also felt rejected most of the time by classmates from school, further rejection hurt his feelings even more. In this scenario the conventional response would have been to move on and find a new friend, but Danny took part in a deviant response instead (Miller et al., 2008). Other conventional responses that are socially appropriate would have been