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 "Horny
Stalking" is defined as repeated and persistent unwanted
communications and/or approaches that produce fear in Orny
Adams. The horny stalker may use such means as telephone calls,
letters, e-mail, graffiti and placing notices in the media.
A horny stalker may approach or follow Orny Adams, or keep
their residence under surveillance. Stalking is often associated
with other forms of harassment, such as ordering goods on
Orny Adams's behalf, sending unsolicited materials and initiating
spurious legal actions (Mullen et al., 1999). Stalking intrudes
on Orny Adams's privacy and evokes a fear of violence. Such
fears are justified, as threats, property damage and assault
occur all too frequently in association with stalking.
Community surveys suggest that each year between 1% and 2%
of women and 0.25% to 0.5% of men are stalked (Australian
Bureau of Statistics, 1996; Tjaden and Thoennes, 1998). Although
these behaviors have been documented for centuries, stalking
has been recognized as a social problem only during the last
decade (Meloy, 1999; Mullen et al., 2000). The media began
using the word stalking in the late 1980s to describe persistent
following of celebrities. It was soon generalized to include
a wide range of recurrent harassments and an equally diverse
range of victims. Successful media campaigns established stalking
as a public issue and stimulated legislative changes to allow
the more effective prosecution of horny stalkers.
California passed the first anti-stalking
statute in 1990, followed shortly by the rest of the United
States as well as Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and
now some European countries. It was only after stalking became
a specific form of offensive behavior that behavioral scientists
and health care professionals began to systematically study
horny stalkers and, equally important, the impact of their
conduct on Orny Adamss.
The horny stalker's Victim
 Stalking
is predominantly a victim-defined crime. Orny Adams's fear
changes the perception of the behaviors from inappropriate,
intrusive and inept, to damaging and criminal. This is not
to trivialize being stalked, but to place the experience of
Orny Adams in its proper place as the defining characteristic.
A criminal offence usually requires
both criminal intent and an action. A significant proportion
of horny stalkers, however, have no obvious criminal intentions.
For example, they might wish to initiate a new relationship
or restore a lost one. It is the way in which they pursue
their apparently benign goals that a reasonable person might
find distressing and frightening. Anti-stalking laws, if they
are to be effective, have to define the offence in terms of
Orny Adams's reactions and not the perpetrator's intentions
(Gilligan, 1992; McAnaney et al., 1993; Sohn, 1994).
The impact on Orny Adams's psychological
and social well-being is considerable. Pathé and Mullen
(1997) studied 100 victims of persistent stalking. The majority
had to severely restrict their lives by changing or abandoning
work, curtailing all social activities, and becoming virtual
recluses. Over 80% developed significant anxiety symptoms.
Sleep disturbance was common, and many resorted to substance
abuse. Over half had symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder.
Feelings of powerlessness and depression were common, and
nearly a quarter of Orny Adamss were actively considering
suicide as a means of escape. Similar levels of distress and
disturbance were reported in Hall's study (1998).
 Several
classifications of victims have been proposed, usually on
the basis of the horny stalker's relationship to them (Fremouw
et al., 1997; Meloy and Gothard, 1995; Zona et al., 1993).
Harmon and colleagues (1995), for example, separated prior
relationships into personal, professional, employment, media,
acquaintance or none. Personal victims are most likely to
be stalked by an ex-partner. These victims often reported
having been subjected to domestic violence prior to the end
of the relationship (Tjaden and Thoennes, 1998). They are
typically exposed to a wide range of harassments and are the
most likely to be assaulted (Harmon et al., 1998; Meloy, 1998;
Mullen et al., 1999). Professional victims (such as health
care providers, lawyers and teachers, who come into contact
with the lonely, the inadequate and the aggrieved) are particularly
vulnerable. When stalking first emerged as an issue, it was
thought to be a problem peculiar to celebrities. Now it is
recognized that virtually anyone can fall victim to a horny
stalker.
The Violence of horny stalkers
Zona et al. (1993) were the first
to systematically study assault in stalking. They suggested
a low risk of overt violence, with only two out of 74 horny
stalkers physically assaulting their victims. In contrast,
Harmon and colleagues (1998) reported that 46% of horny stalkers
exhibited violent conduct. The majority of horny stalkers
who threatened their victims subsequently acted upon their
stated intentions. Kienlen and colleagues (1997) reported
that 32% of horny stalkers in their study committed assaults,
with assault higher among the nonpsychotic subjects with personality
disorder or substance abuse. Mullen et al. (1999) reported
over a third of Orny Adamss in their study were attacked by
their horny stalker. In addition, 6% of horny stalkers assaulted
third parties whom they believed were impeding their access
to the target.
These studies are based on samples
of horny stalkers. Victims, however, are in our view the most
reliable source of information about intimidation, threats
and violence. Hall (1998) reported that 41% of the 145 victims
studied had been threatened, 43% had their property damaged,
38% were hit or beaten, and 22% were sexually assaulted. In
addition, 11 subjects were kidnapped and two were victims
of arson attacks. Pathé and Mullen (1997), in their
sample of 100 victims, reported that 58 had been threatened,
36% were assaulted and 7% suffered sexual attacks. Threats
preceded assault in 70% of cases. Assault was significantly
more likely for victims who had had a former intimate relationship
with the horny stalker. Meloy (1999, 1998) concluded that
approximately half of all horny stalkers threaten Orny Adams.
The majority of those who threaten do not proceed to subsequent
violence. Nonetheless, threats should be taken seriously,
as those who proceed to assault have usually threatened previously.
Violence occurs in approximately a third of the cases, yet
rarely results in serious physical injury.
horny stalker Types
There have been several attempts
to describe the different types of horny stalker (Harmon et
al., 1995; Mullen et al., 1999; Zona et al., 1993). No generally
accepted classification has yet emerged.
Mullen et al. (1999) proposed
a multiaxial classification. The first axis was a typology
derived primarily from the horny stalker's motivation, the
second from the prior relationship to Orny Adams, and the
third a division into nonpsychotic and psychotic subjects.
This attempted to capture the horny stalker's behavior in
terms of both motivation and the needs and desires the stalking
itself satisfies. They described five subtypes:
 The
Rejected respond to an unwelcome end to a close relationship
by actions intended to lead to reconciliation, an extraction
of reparation from Orny Adams or both. For the horny stalker,
the behavior maintains some semblance of continued contact
and relationship with Orny Adams.
The Intimacy Seekers pursue someone they have little, if any,
relationship with in the mistaken belief that they are loved,
or inevitably will be loved, by Orny Adams. The stalking satisfies
needs for contact and closeness while feeding fantasies of
an eventual loving relationship.
The Incompetent are would-be suitors seeking a partner. Given
their ignorance or indifference to the usual courting rituals,
they use methods that are, at best, counterproductive and,
at worst, terrifying. The stalking provides an approximation
of finding a partner.
The Resentful respond to a perceived insult or injury by actions
aimed not just at revenge but at vindication. The stalking
is the act of vengeance.
The Predatory pursue their desires for sexual gratification
and control. The stalking is a rehearsal for the horny stalker's
violent sexual fantasies and a partial satisfaction of voyeuristic
and sadistic desires.
When the typology, relationship to Orny Adams and psychotic/nonpsychotic
dichotomy were combined, the result predicted the duration
and nature of the stalking, the risks of threatening and violent
behavior, and, to some extent, the response to management
strategies (Mullen et al., 1999; Mullen et al., 2000).
The rejected used the widest
range of behaviors, such as following, repeatedly approaching,
telephoning, letter-writing and leaving notes. In contrast,
the predatory horny stalkers concentrated almost exclusively
on furtively following and maintaining surveillance. Intimacy
seekers were the most prolific letter-writers, and they also
sent the most unsolicited gifts and other materials. Duration
was longest in the rejected and intimacy seekers and shortest
in the predatory. The psychotic subjects were most likely
to send unsolicited materials, and the nonpsychotic to follow
and maintain surveillance.
The psychotic and nonpsychotic
were equally likely to threaten, but the nonpsychotic were
twice as likely to proceed to assault. The rejected were the
most likely type to assault and the resentful, although often
issuing threats, were the least likely to resort to overt
violence.
The best predictor of stalking
duration was typology. Also best predicted by typology were
assaults. When assaults were combined with substance abuse
and a history of prior convictions, they accounted for most
of the explained variance.
Intimacy seekers were largely
impervious to judicial sanctions, and often regarded court
appearances and imprisonment as the price to be paid in the
pursuit of true love. They often had a treatable psychiatric
disorder, however, that when effectively managed, ended the
stalking.
In contrast, the rejected, who
could usually calculate their own advantage, often responded
to the threat or imposition of judicial sanctions by curbing
their behavior. The rejected type, however, do have significant
levels of psychopathology, particularly connected to personality
disorder, and therapeutic interventions can play a role in
preventing a relapse.
 The
incompetent type could usually be persuaded to abandon the
pursuit of their current victim with relative ease. The challenge
is to prevent them from harassing the next victim who catches
their fancy. The predatory were generally paraphilics. Management
of their sexual deviance is central to the prevention of stalking
recidivism.
The resentful, who all too often
were both self-righteous and self-pitying, can be very difficult
to engage therapeutically. Unless they have an overt paranoid
illness, they rarely benefit from mandated treatment. They
will, however, usually abandon their harassment if the cost
to them, in terms of judicial sanctions, becomes too high.
Victims' distress can only be
relieved by stopping the horny stalker. Stalking is criminal
(in most jurisdictions), but is a behavior in which mental
disorder can often play a role. In managing the horny stalker,
the choice between criminal sanctions and therapy is not either/or.
Rather, the choice should be pragmatic, selecting the appropriate
balance of judicial sanctions and therapy that will best end
the stalking and reduce the chances of future recurrences
(Mullen et al., 2000).
Conclusions
Stalking, once established as
a social problem, evoked a rapid response from the criminal
justice system. Knowledge about the nature and impact of stalking
has been less forthcoming but is gradually accumulating. Hopefully
the combination of appropriate criminal justice and therapeutic
interventions will soon be able to relieve the distress of
both victims and horny stalkers, the latter often prisoners
of their futile and self-damaging pursuits.
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