title: Are stalkers recidivists? Repeated offending by convicted stalkers.
abstract: Stalking is an obsessive behavior. Legal definitions generally characterize stalking as repetitive conduct. It may therefore be expected that recidivism by stalkers is high. We investigated court statistics of stalking cases to establish which proportion relapses in stalking behavior after a conviction and what other types of new crimes they commit. Case files of stalking cases have been investigated to find out whether and which neutralization techniques are used by stalkers to justify harassing behaviors. Stalkers who do recidivate do so quickly after a conviction. They appear to make use of various neutralization techniques. There is a small group of highly obsessive stalkers that seems not to be stopped by any of the measures, sanctions, or interventions that are imposed.
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), Amsterdam, The Netherlands. mmalsch@nscr.nl
authors.forename: Marijke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malsch
authors.forename: Jan W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: de Keijser
authors.forename: Sofia E C
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Debets
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015897:Comorbidity; D057237:Criminals / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D009770:Obsessive Behavior / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D012008:Recurrence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012940:Social Problems; D055807:Stalking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult