The management of stalkers

Abstract

Stalking (Box 1) has only recently been distinguished from a wide range of other socially inappropriate, intrusive and potentially distressing activities. It is now a specific form of criminal offending and has established itself as a recognised social problem (Meloy, 1998; Mullen et al, 2000). Stalking may well reflect, as Emerson et al (1998) argue, “intricate social processes”, but if the psychopathology of the stalker is a necessary, even if far from sufficient, cause then treating that psychopathology may end the stalking (Mullen & Pathé, 2001).