Cyber-Stalking: A Case Study

Stalking has been a label for a long-term pattern of persistent pursuit and intrusive behavior directed by one person toward another (Logan & Cole, 2007). It is a term that has been around since

Before delving into the main points, the definition of stalking must be outlined. According to Patricia Tjaden and Nancy Thoennes, in their study of the National Violence Against Women Survey, “Stalking generally refers to harassing or threatening behavior that an individual engages in repeatedly, such as following a person, appearing at a per son 's home or place of business, making harassing phone calls, leaving written messages or objects, or vandalizing a person 's property. These actions may or

Stalking is a national epidemic. Across the country millions of Americans are stalked each year. They are followed without relief everywhere they go–to work, to school, to the shopping mall, to the doctor’s office, to their home—until they no longer feel safe anywhere.

In the article College Student Perceptions of Criminal Justice System Responses to Stalking (2011) the authors explain the methods they had used and examples of past and current research in order to give an insight as what is being explained throughout the article. The current study used a survey that had been administered to undergraduate college students from a large east coast university to examine whether extra-legal factors influenced their personal judgements of criminal justice system responsiveness to stalking (Cass & Rosay, 2011). Stalking and to how it is perceived by college students was the question. There are specified statistics as to where victimization rates range from, for example 13 percent to 30 percent and other estimates

Cyber stalking laws normally classify cyber stalking as a misdemeanor offense. However, a main issue in any cyber stalking case has been proving identity since, most people do not use their real identities while communicating on the internet (Followill, 2015). In this case, the defendant is known which should help the prosecution pursue charges more speedily.

Just as stalking “in real life” is a crime in California, as it is in most states, stalking someone online is also a serious criminal offense.

The following article is both interesting and informative when it comes to the final paper product as it deals specifically with laws against stalking; the following research examines and evaluates the anti-stalking laws in place around the United States along with their effectiveness. Richard A. Lingg compares the other set of the anti-stalking statutes around the country with that of California, one of the first states to enact stalking laws and make it a punishable offense in the 90’s, in doing so he spilt the laws into two groups; one where other states have adopted California’s law with no modifications and the other is roughly based on the original law but has a broader range. The original California law and the states that adopted it

Some of the most common cyber-crimes are cyberstalking, identity theft, spam and phishing among others. Cyber stalking has been classified as one of prevalent cybercrimes with many internet users falling victims of cyber bullying. Cyber stalkers meet their victims in different ways; mostly they normally have a relationship either in the real world or online world. Cyberstalking starts when this relationship ends. However, strangers who have collected information on the internet can also be cyber stalkers. The desire to control and even harm their victims is what motivates cyber stalkers. They may go to the measures of personifying their victims and post messages or controversial posts on the boards and chat rooms. In this real regard, cyberstalking is a real crime (Mansourabadi, 2014).

Stalking is a relatively new crime in which is defined by as unwanted obsessive behavior by a group or individual toward another person. Stalking can be categorized as a domestic violence crime in which one person involved in a romantic relationship with another becomes obsessed compulsively over the loss of a romantic partner due to abuses committed against a spouse or lover during the course of an intimate relationship. According to the National Institute of Justice, stalking is defined

Stalking is a crime that many Americans have dealt with both privately and publicly. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice, “3.4 million persons in the U.S. are affected by the crime of stalking annually” (Baum & Catalano, 2009). Despite this, the crime is often marginalized. This issue of marginalization comes from the difficulty of actually lawfully describing stalking. For example, even though the federal government and all the states have laws that do address stalking the definition of stalking is different in each state. These laws vary on the type of fear the victim has, their distress, as well as the behavior or intent of their stalker. The U.S Bureau of Justice elaborates on this phenomena and observes that, “Some state laws specify that the

Stalking is a word most people are familiar with. Nevertheless, this word is not easily defined. In fact, it is defined differently based on the state you reside in. According to Schmalleger and Hall (2014), stalking is defined as “the intentional frightening of another through following, harassing, annoying, tormenting, or terrorizing activities” (p. 245). Normally the stalker is someone the victim has a personnel relationship with, yet, that is not always the case. Stalking is not a victimless crime and can happen to men or women.

Stalking is a terrifying and potentially lethal crime that seems to be on the rise in recent years. While the act itself can be displayed in a variety of ways with many different motivations, the effects on the victims always result in some sort of fear, anxiety, and paranoia among others, along with crippling the victim financially. The media portrayal of stalking can lead to misconceptions about the crime and minizations of the behavior by the general public can lead to a secondary victimization and cause the crime to go unreported. Although anti-stalking laws exist they vary from state to state and may not always provide the adequate of protection, even a person convicted of stalking will only serve a year or less in prison if no other charges

Stalking is considered a form of abusive behavior within domestic violence because of the danger the victim faces even after leaving an abusive relationship. Many victims of domestic violence have seemed to experience stalking behavior form their current or previous intimate relationship partner. Examples of stalking include: sending gifts or notes that are not wanted, repeated phone calls or showing up at the victims work place, and other way stalkers may invade in a victim’s life. The stalker might become more frequent when he or she tries to gain that control they once had or even gain more control over the victim, some of which the stalkers actions may come from the loss of the previous relationship. Most stalkers behavior may escalate and can lead to threats or can result in physical violence. All 50 states today have implied an anti-stalking law that protects orders against victims. Also, not all states treat stalking as a felony, most first offence stalking charges are misdemeanor, after the third offence that person can be charged with a

In a years time, over 12 million males and females become victims of abuse (“Statistics”). Nearly two-thirds of female victims have reported being stalked by a current or former intimate partner (“Statistics”). Stalking is a form of abuse because it makes the victim feel paranoid and scared. The stalker will harass and spy on the victim or show up at their house or at their work. Stalking occurs a lot, especially during a relationship and there is a difference between checking up on someone and

This crime can be perpetrated through email, social media, chat rooms, instant messaging clients and any other online medium. Cyberstalking can also occur in conjunction with the more traditional form of stalking, where the offender harasses the victim offline