1. Violence Risk Factors in Stalking and Obsessional Harassment: A Review and Preliminary Meta-Analysis Barry Rosenfeld Heather Mitchell Radford University

2. Purpose To determine if stalking behavior will result in violence to the person being stalked –Media exploits isolated cases of celebrity stalkings –Stalking behaviors are underreported –Proactive measures would benefit potential victims

3. Issues to Consider How is violence measured? –Physical assault (to what extent) –Psychological distress and lifestyle disruptions –Threats of harm Psychopathology as potential predictor –Psychotic disorder –Personality disorder –Substance abuse

4. Literature Review 1995-2002 Method of obtaining articles not discussed Studies –13 total studies (1 was redundant) –10 studies included

5. Studies to Include Must be empirical Must have statistics to convert to r or Φ coefficient Must discuss stalking behavior and measurable outcome

6. Dependent Measures Threats of violence Relationship to victim Psychotic disorder Personality disorder Substance abuse history Criminal history Violence history (includes domestic violence)

7. Potential Moderators Level of education Age Race Gender Psychopathy Impulsivity Type of criminal behavior

8. Overall effect of violence Including 10 studies Overall rate of violence38.6% 1,055 offenders

9. Results Risk FactorkNWeighted Effect Size (Φ) 95% Conf. Interval Threats6909.26.08 to.44 Prior intimate6669.32-.05 to.69 Psychotic disorder 6521-.18-.04 to -.32 Personality disorder 4288.10.03 to.17

10. Results Risk FactorkNWeighted Effect Size (Φ) 95% Conf. Interval Substance abuse history 5620.19.17 to.21 Criminal history6843.12-.25 to.49 Violence history3614.25-.03 to.53

11. Results Strong Evidence –Threats –Not psychotic –Substance Abuse Moderate Evidence –Prior intimates –Violence history –Personality disorder No evidence –Criminal history

12. Conclusions/Recommendations Violence occurs in 30%-50% of cases, but severe violence is much less frequent Studies do not allow for individual variations in factors Interactions frequently found, difficult to measure Need more studies and more consistent examination of variables