How to Survive in the City
How to Avoid Becoming a Crime Victim If You Do Become a Victim, Where to Go For Help
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Stalking is defined as repeated and obsessive behavior that makes you afraid or concerned for your safety. It is a crime of terror and intimidation. According to a U.S. Department of Justice study, women are the victims in 90 percent of stalking cases, and one in 20 women will be stalked at some time in their lives. While most stalking victims are young, even elderly people have been targets. Stalking can occur in a wide variety of situations and between people who have various relationships, or no relationship at all. Although every stalking case is different, over time a stalker’s behavior typically becomes more and more threatening and violent. The stalking activity generally escalates from what initially may be bothersome and annoying (but legal) behavior to the level of dangerous, obsessive, violent, and potentially fatal. The stalker seems to know your every move. Wherever you go, he is there. You decide to run out to the store on the spur of the moment, and he is there. You go out for a social evening, and he is there. Then there are the phone calls -- they go on and on, anytime of the day or night. Then, the calls suddenly stop and you will breathe a sigh of relief, thinking it is over. Then, just when you least expect it, they start all over again. It is emotional terrorism of the worst kind. You are left with a feeling of hopelessness. You are trapped: you can’t get away from him. Stalking is composed of three defining elements: the stalker’s relationship with the victim, the stalker’s motive in pursuing the victim, and the stalker’s behavior. The stalker’s relationship with their victim provides a useful basis for defining and classifying the various types of stalking. Forensic psychologists have identified these as: (1) Erotomania. This stalker, usually female, has the delusional belief that they are passionately loved by another, often a celebrity, even though they never have met. They pursue their victims usually through letter writing and phone calls, and rarely attempt to make physical contact with their victims. Erotomania comprises about nine percent of all stalking. (2) Love Obsessional. This stalker develops a fixation on someone who is a stranger and mounts a campaign of harassment to make themselves known to the victim. Dave Letterman was the victim of this type of stalker for five years, although there have been cases of love obsessional stalking that lasted as long as thirteen years, and even longer. This stalker not only attempts to live out his/her fantasies, but expects the victim to play out their assigned roles as well. They believe they can make the victim fall in love with them. When this does not happen, the stalker feels betrayed, and often becomes violent. The intense attraction the stalker originally felt can turn quickly into intense hatred for the victim, and then just as quickly back again. The vast majority of love-obsessionals, who make up about 43 percent of all stalkers, are suffering from a mental disorder, often schizophrenia or paranoia. (3) Simple Obsessional. The overwhelming majority of stalking crimes fall into this category, in which the victim has had a prior relationship with the victim. The victim can be an ex-spouse, ex-lover, former boss or co-worker. This is the most dangerous category of stalking and the most likely to end with harm to the victim or their property. Often the stalking begins when an intimate partner attempts to escape an abusive relationship. In other cases, a relationship has gone sour and the stalker is unable to accept that it is over. In his twisted thinking, he blames the victim for everything that is wrong in his life. He/she perceives that they have been mistreated by the victim; they are hurt and angry and want revenge. This is the most dangerous type of stalker, especially if there has been a history of domestic abuse. He is most likely to take the attitude, "if I can’t have her, then nobody else will." Stalkers tend to be emotionally immature and/or socially maladjusted. They are often above average in intelligence, but suffer from feelings of powerlessness, jealousy and low self-esteem. They use their controlling behavior to compensate and make them feel more powerful. Twenty or so years ago, stalking was not taken seriously -- by the public or by the authorities. Now the police are all too aware that this is indeed a serious problem, often with deadly consequences. Estimates of the number of stalkers in the U.S. vary. Recent data from a National Violence Against Women (NVAW) survey indicated that 503,485 women and 185,496 men are stalked by an intimate partner annually. Data from a survey of college students found 156.5 incidents of stalking per 1,000 female students. It is unknown how many victims are able to elude their stalkers by relocating or changing their identities, how many stalkers eventually stop pursuing their target in the absence of legal interventions, and how many stalkers choose new targets. Stalking first gained widespread public concern when Rebecca Shaeffer, a popular young actress, was shot to death in 1989 by an obsessed fan who had stalked her for two years. The case galvanized national attention to this serious problem. Radio and TV talk shows and the mass market print media all ran stories of celebrities who had been stalked, the potentially deadly consequences, and the terrifying helplessness experienced by victims of stalking.
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About the Book
None of us expects to become a crime victim. We like to think this is something that happens to someone else. Yet, crime victimization is a traumatic and frightening experience that touches millions of innocent Americans each year. Most of us would have no idea what to do if we, or someone we love, became the victim of violent crime. Until the 1970s, there were almost no services available to help crime victims and their survivors cope with the ordeal, or get them through the frustrating, often incomprehensible workings of the court system.. Fortunately, there now are many resources for victims to help them emotionally, legally, and even financially – but finding them is another matter. How to Survive in the City has compiled lists of hotlines and resources for every sort of emergency you are likely to encounter, including national victims hotlines, national business and fraud resources, and domestic abuse, rape, and stalking hotlines. The author has also put together a wealth of information from law enforcement agencies on how to outwit the criminal and avoid becoming his victim. She describes how to keep watch for child molesters in your neighborhood, and how to make sure your child does not become one of his victims. She talks about rape, how to avoid it, and what to do if it happens. She discusses domestic abuse, elder abuse and child abuse and what to do if you or a loved one is in such a situation. She tells you how to make your home safe, and how to use common sense precautions to keep from being burglarized or robbed in the street. She describes the pitfalls you can fall into with credit card and identity theft, she details the latest frauds and scams and tells you how to avoid falling victim to the con artist. Life in today’s big cities can be joyous and exciting, as long as we know how to negotiate the minefields. How to Survive in the City is a wealth of information on how to beat the criminal at his own game and avoid becoming a crime victim.
About the Author
Joanne Ceruone has lived in Chicago for thirty-three years. Growing up on a farm in the 1940s, she knows first-hand the pitfalls and dangers the unsophisticated face in making the transition to city life, and has come by her "street smarts" the hard way. She has worked in legal offices all over the country, and has many friends and contacts in law enforcement. She is also the author of one other book, A Kaleidoscope of Turkish Culture.