Female stalker characteristics

What Type of Woman Stalks Men?

You may have heard the exclamation from a friend upon finding an unexpected note or gift on their car windshield from an ex-paramour. “Stalker!” But having prosecuted stalkers for over 20 years, I can tell you, that is not the definition. Stalking generally requires a repeated pattern of behavior coupled with a credible threat of harm.

Nonetheless, we are unnerved by unwanted attention, and unrequited affection. Legal remedies such as restraining orders or stay-away orders are available to address behavior that does not meet the legal definition of stalking.

Men are less likely to report being stalked than women, and some victims do not report at all because they do not recognize stalking behavior. And although statistically most stalkers are men and victims are women,[i] researchers are beginning to recognize the distinctive behaviors of women who stalk men.

"Nice Girls Don’t Stalk"

When we think of female stalkers, most of us remember movies like Fatal Attraction, where Glenn Close relentlessly pursues and terrorizes Michael Douglas, a married man with whom she had a weekend affair. But researchers have identified characteristics of female stalkers as revealed in actual cases rather than Hollywood productions.

J. Reid Meloy et al. (2011) in “The Female Stalker” studied 143 cases, gathered from law enforcement, prosecutorial, and entertainment corporate security files, using the definition of stalking behavior as “two or more unwanted contacts by a subject toward a target that created a reasonable fear in that target.” They describe the typical female stalker as a single woman in her mid-30s, either divorced or separated, who has a psychiatric diagnosis, most frequently a mood disorder. Unlike the stereotype of female stalkers perpetuated by the media, they point out that in fact, she is more likely to pursue a celebrity, stranger, or male acquaintance, rather than a prior sexual partner.

They note, however, that the existence of a prior relationship with the victim, whether sexually intimate or as an acquaintance, significantly increased the frequency of violence and threats. Indeed, Meloy et al. found that the most dangerous subgroup was female stalkers who stalked ex-sexual partners; most of them both threatened and were physically violent toward their victims. The least dangerous type of female stalker is the one who targeted Hollywood celebrities. (Remember the woman who repeatedly broke into David Letterman’s home, believing she was his wife?)[ii]

Compared with male counterparts, women stalkers were less violent or threatening and far less likely to have criminal histories. Regarding pursuit behavior, for women, it was less proximity-based, and in terms of communications, they were described as more benign than male stalkers.

But why do they do it at all?

Why Do Women Stalk Men?

Acquadro Maran et al. (2020) [iii] note that research has revealed that in most cases, men are stalked by women. They note that according to research findings, the most frequent motive behind a stalking campaign is the desire for a relationship—either to form one or rekindle a past relationship. Regarding the nature of past relationships that lead to stalking behavior, they note that most cases where the stalker was an ex-partner involved a history of reported abuse.

Anecdotally, many men report noticing red flags early on in a relationship—a propensity to unrealistic expectations, explosive or controlling behavior, an inability to handle rejection. Sometimes this behavior is downplayed or ignored, resulting in an escalation of increasingly inappropriate conduct.

Taken in combination with some of the empirically validated findings, stalking victims are encouraged to report their victimization. Many stalkers do not change their stripes, only the object of their obsession. Identifying stalkers early also may facilitate intervention strategies designed to interrupt the destructive pattern of behavior and prevent future victims.

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When Women Stalk Women | Atlanta Area Psychological Associates, P.C.

Sadly, we're all too familiar with tales of stalking. One needs only to turn on popular movie channels to see fictional tales of obsession, menace, and intrigue. Many of these stories appear on women's network programs and may involve men stalking women or women stalking men. A tragic real life case of stalking was that of Rebecca Schaeffer. Schaeffer was a rising young actress (best known for her role in “My Sister Sam”) who was shot and killed at the entryway to her apartment in 1989. Her murderer, Robert John Bardo, had been stalking her for three years. He had tried unsuccessfully to approach her on the Warner Brothers set where she was filming. He eventually hired a private detective to obtain Schaeffer's home address, went to her apartment and was asked not to return. He returned an hour later and shot her at point blank range. Interestingly, Bardo had previously stalked another actress who died in a plane crash. It was then that he turned his attention to Schaeffer.

Most of us are also familiar with the movie, “Fatal Attraction”, in which Glenn Close becomes infatuated with Michael Douglas and ends up stalking him and his family, with predictably disastrous consequences. The movie serves as a morality play for Douglas' character, in that what he thinks will be a brief torrid affair while his family is out of town ends in tragedy. Glenn Close plays the prototypical “woman scorned” in this film.

Technical definitions of stalkers emphasize that the behavior is intentional, that it is malicious, intended to cause harm or distress, and that it is repetitive. Other studies have extensively profiled both the perpetrators and the victims of stalking in terms of age, gender, education, history of abuse, and drug use, among other factors.

But what about women stalking women?

There can certainly be sexual/romantic motives when one woman stalks another. An obvious example of this would be a lesbian attraction to another woman. In this sense, there's a similarity to heterosexual stalking. The primary motivation is to have an intimate relationship with the person being stalked. The thinking often goes something like this: If only she really knew me/if only I had the chance/I could make her take me seriously and she would love me. The messages can be conveyed by phone, email, text, or face-to-face in a workplace or social situation. The stalker may drive by the home or office of the woman she's obsessed with. She may follow her to her gym or the grocery, etc. In other words, she may become quite familiar with the woman's routine in order to observe her or even “accidentally” run into her and appear pleasantly surprised.

A notorious example of a woman stalking another woman is the case of Lisa Nowak and Colleen Shipman. Nowak was an astronaut who participated in the 2006 space shuttle Discovery mission. On this assignment, Nowak was responsible for operating the robotic arms of the shuttle and the International Space Station.

Nowak was married and the mother of three children. She engaged in a two-year affair with astronaut William Oefelein, who was divorced. Oefelein ended the affair and began a relationship with Air Force captain, Colleen Shipman. The story of Nowak's cross-country trek, supposedly wearing diapers so as to avoid stops along the way, received major media attention. Nowak did, in fact, confront Shipman in an Orlando airport, but Shipman escaped physical harm. Nowak had with her a significant number of items that suggested she intended to at least harm—if not worse—Shipman.

The outcome of the “astronaut in diapers” story had a predictably sad ending. Nowak was dismissed from the Navy under “other than honorable conditions.” Oefelein's relationship with NASA was severed, and Shipman, after having her Air Force responsibilities reduced, retired in 2008. Richard and Lisa Nowak divorced in 2008.

Another notorious stalking case was that of Megan Meier, a 13-year-old who committed suicide after being repeatedly harassed online by the mother of a friend. Lori Drew, the mother of Sarah Drew, created a false Myspace account and posed as a boy who expressed interest in Megan. In point of fact, Lori Drew used the content of the messages to glean information about Megan with the intent to use it to humiliate the girl. Drew believed that Megan had spread gossip about Sarah.

Megan committed suicide shortly before her fourteenth birthday. In spite of attempts to keep the story quiet during police investigation, news of Drew's use of the fake Myspace account and her intent leaked out, with the result that she and her business were shunned by the local community. Her daughter, Sarah, began attending school in another town. Based on laws in place at the time, Lori Drew was not prosecuted, but the high-profile case led to extensive evaluation of laws against harassment and cyberbulling.

Other types of female-female stalking might include envy which is expressed in passive-aggressive fashion. An example would be workplace behavior designed to sabotage another woman's professional reputation or job security. This could be accomplished via malicious gossip, misplacing critical documents, failing to relay important messages, not informing a superior of important meetings, etc. The common denominator here is one employee intentionally undermining another's status and position. And while the stalker's behavior may be fueled by intense envy, the intent is always negative and malicious, designed to destroy or deprive the victim of something of value to her, in this case the perception that she is highly competent, costing her her reputation and perhaps even her job.

Another example of female-female stalking might be in a strictly social setting. For example, a new family moves into a settled neighborhood. There is a group of women who have been friends for several years. The established group is curious about the newcomer, wants to get to know her and welcome her to the neighborhood. Understandably, less attention is directed toward longstanding members of the group for a while. One woman in particular seems a bit jealous about this and perhaps even perceives the new neighbor as a threat to her status in the group. She may develop vengeful feelings toward the “intruder” in her social network.

This group member may respond in a number of ways, ranging from ignoring the new member to becoming intrusive and even harassing. For example, she may show an inordinate interest in the new woman's family and lifestyle, paying close attention to when she's at home, perhaps even rifling through her mailbox. She may google the woman, her husband, even her children. She may track her and her relationships on Facebook and other social media.

The role of technology and social media can't be overstated here. In years past, stalking and harassment may have taken the form of phone calls in which the caller never identified herself, but perhaps just listened to the victim asking, “Who's calling? Who is this? What do you want?” Or the stalker may have delivered a threatening message such as, “If you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from my boyfriend,” or “I'm watching you and can find you any time,” or “I'm parked outside your kids' school right now,” or “I know you're having problems at work; I could take your job any time. ” The role of various electronic devices and social media in stalking has grown exponentially.

A word of clarification is in order here. Note: People often use the terms “jealousy” and “envy” interchangeably. In fact, however, they refer to different kinds of experiences. “Jealousy” refers to the perceived threat of loss of something of value, often a spouse or partner. An example would be a spouse who feels threatened by a husband's or wife's relationship with a coworker. “Envy”, on the other hand, has to do with an individual's desire to acquire the perceived characteristics or status of another, for example, a job, a family situation, appearance, accomplishments, etc. So, the fundamental difference is fear of loss of what one has (jealousy) versus desire to acquire what another person has (envy).

In summary, stalking is a deliberate act which is fueled by obsession with another person. It may be an obsession with the target's personal or professional life and may be driven by the desire to damage some part of the target's life, or perhaps by a fantasized relationship with the target. There are now anti-stalking laws in all fifty states and the District of Columbia.

1. J.R. Meloy (American Journal of Psychotherapy. Spring 1997; 51(2): 174-84.)
2. J.R. Meloy and C. Boyd (Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry Law. 2003. 31(2): 211-219.)

Stalker. List, characteristics of the characters in the game Stalker

Trilogy "Stalker" has become a real breakthrough in domestic game development. Unfortunately, today there are not many computer games that were produced in the CIS - most high-quality projects were made either in Europe or in the United States of America. But sometimes such masterpieces as "Metro" or "Stalker" appear, which are liked by the whole world and become real bestsellers. And if we consider specifically the Stalker trilogy, then there are an impressive number of reasons why this game has become one of the most successful. First, it is an open post-apocalyptic world. The action takes place on the territory of Chernobyl, only in an alternative reality, where the consequences of the reactor explosion were not eliminated. The world has died, and separate groups are traveling through the radioactive deserts, fighting among themselves, and also trying to cope with the threat of mutants who are constantly attacking the surviving people. Each of the three games has its own main character, and this is the second advantage of the series - it's an incredible story. Each game tells its own exciting story, which can end in different endings, depending on what choices you make during the passage. And, of course, we must not forget about the huge variety of everything - weapons, items, locations, monsters, story and secondary tasks, and most importantly - characters. There are quite an impressive number of heroes in the games - there will be at least 400 of them in the entire trilogy. The characters of Stalker are very diverse and interesting. Of course, it makes no sense to describe each of them, because many are secondary and not so attractive. But there are those heroes who deserve special attention. This article will describe the characters of "Stalker", who won the most sympathy of gamers, played the most important roles in the development of the storyline, and were simply the most impressive.

The Gunslinger

The Gunslinger is probably the most interesting character in the entire trilogy. During the passage, you will meet different characters - "Stalker", as you already understood, has a complete scattering of them, but the Strelok stands out from all the others. Why is he so attractive? First, the way it has been used in various games. In the first part of the trilogy, the player had to take on the role of the Shooter, that is, you yourself play this character. Regardless of which ending you get based on your decisions, in the second part of the game, the Shooter becomes the main antagonist, and you will have to try to get to him and defeat him as another character. Well, in the third and final part of the trilogy, the Shooter no longer plays such an important role, but he will still meet you on the way, since he is part of the story campaign. Strelok is a real legend in the Stalker world, he is known to every person who has been close to the Zone at least once - let alone hardened stalkers who only talk about Strelok. All survivors unanimously recognize him as the greatest stalker in history. He deserved this title largely due to the fact that he became a person who came as close as possible to unraveling the origin of the Zone as such. Unlike many stalkers who spend most of their lives on the outskirts of the Zone, being afraid to go even a little further inland, Strelok several times got close to the very center, it was he who became the cause of many global cataclysms generated by the disgruntled Zone. It is also worth noting that he is the founder of the Strelka group, which included many other eminent characters of Stalker.

Tramp

One of the most interesting characters in the game is the Tramp. You already understood that one of the most legendary heroes of the Zone was the Shooter - stalkers, however, not all are legends. For example, the Tramp appears in the second part of the game, where he is a rookie stalker who is seen by everyone as hopeless, unable to achieve good enough results. To prove to everyone what he is capable of, the Tramp goes to fight with a pack of mutants on his own, and this is where you meet him - you have to help him fight off the mutants, for which he will not even thank you, setting the events so that he could manage without your help. At the end of the events of the second part, the stalker Tramp goes to the center of the Zone, where he is under the influence of the Monolith group. When you sneak into the Monolith's hideout in the third part of the game and destroy the control panel, the Tramp and other mentally controlled stalkers regain their own will. You have to find shelter for them and help them join one of the Zone's factions. All monolithic stalkers calmly settle in a new place, but the Tramp cannot sit still and disappears without a trace after a while. In the third part, the Tramp is no longer a beginner and a loser, he is an experienced and professional fighter, a high-class sniper and a recognized specialist. Until the end of the game, you will not hear about him anymore, but from the final credits it will become known that he organized his own group, consisting of stalkers, just like he was previously under the influence of the Monolith. They went to the center of the Zone to find out what exactly happened to them. As you can see, the Tramp is far from a Shooter, stalkers can be very diverse, which makes them even more attractive and interesting.

Scar

There is another legend in the game "Stalker" - Scar. This character is found exclusively in the second part of the game, where he is the main protagonist, that is, you will play for him. Initially, Scar was an ordinary stalker who performed certain tasks for money in order to survive in this post-apocalyptic world. But during the execution of one of the tasks, a cataclysm occurred, which was called the Outburst. The purpose of Scar's assignment was to escort a group of scientists from one point to another, and when the hero came to his senses, all the scientists were dead. He was found by members of the Clear Sky group, and he decided to help them by going with them to the outpost in the Zone to fight the mutants. Suddenly, another Ejection happened - again everyone who was around Scar died, and he woke up at the Clear Sky base, where it turned out that the Ejections gave rise to some kind of superpower in the stalker - he became faster, stronger, more enduring, but it turned out that The outbursts also affect his mental state, so he slowly began to go insane. He joined Clear Sky to figure out what the Emissions are and stop them once and for all. It is in the role of Scar that you have to hunt for the Shooter, which you controlled in the first part of the game, but the details of this will not be indicated here, because they will spoil your impression of the passage of the game "Stalker". Scar is the hero of the Zone for a reason, he did a lot for Clear Sky and for all the survivors in general.

Nimble

Nimble is not one of the main characters in the Stalker game series, but he is still considered a unique hero. For what? The fact is that, in addition to the Strelok, in the trilogy there is only one character who is found in all three games - and this is the Nimble. The stalker got his nickname because he always moves quickly, dexterously and silently, which allows him to cope with such tasks that other stalkers are unable to do. If we consider his biography in chronological order (that is, starting from the second part of the game, which is the background to the first), then at first Nimble served in Clear Sky and was a guide there, he interacted very little with the main character - he could have something learn, as well as get a couple of tips on caches. After the destruction of Clear Sky, Shustry went to Cordon, where he began working for Sidorovich and other merchants, earning his living. During one of the tasks, he was ambushed by bandits who took him hostage, but after a while you will be able to save him during the assault on the bandits' base along with Petrukha and his squad. As for the third part of the game, here Swifty is announced only after the destruction of the Monolith control panel - together with a group of stalkers, he goes deep into the Zone, where he establishes his own camp and begins to earn his living there by looking for rare equipment. In the game "Stalker: Call of Pripyat" there are also more colorful characters, but Shustroy was worth noting because he went down in history with his appearance, taking part in the events of all three games.

Degtyarev

It's time to draw a line under the protagonists of the games - if in the first part the main character was the Shooter, in the second - Scar, then in the third part Degtyarev acts as the leading character and your alter ego. This is not an ordinary stalker, but an undercover SBU major who ended up in the Zone in order to find out the reasons for the crash of SBU helicopters. During the game, you will discover these helicopters, find out that their crews have mysteriously disappeared, and also look into the very depths of the Zone, thanks to which you will receive a promotion to the rank of colonel. However, Degtyarev will refuse office work and prefer to stay in the Zone in order to be a permanent observer from the SBU in dangerous territory, as well as provide all kinds of assistance to his friends among stalkers, thereby becoming a free stalker on his own. This character is the last one you can play as in the Stalker trilogy, but that doesn't mean the rest of the characters are less important or interesting. If you continue to read this article, you will understand why they can grab your attention as much as the three main characters of the entire trilogy.

Ghost Stalker

The Black Stalker is one of the most mysterious characters in the trilogy, because no one knows if he really exists or not. Initially, his name was Red, and he was one of the first stalkers in the Zone, he quickly became a legend and gained immense popularity. But once, together with his friends and comrades, he made his way deep into the Zone and got to the Reactor itself, located right in the center of the Zone. There, a serious skirmish took place between them, and the friends suddenly turned out to be enemies, who cruelly bricked up Red in concrete right at the base of the reactor. However, due to the incredibly high level of radiation, Red, who died on the spot, was resurrected as a spirit, which now travels throughout the Zone and makes sure that the people there follow its unwritten rules. He can destroy someone, and save someone from a hopeless situation. However, not a single stalker could prove its existence one hundred percent. Therefore, the legendary Black Stalker remained a legend even after his death.

Doctor

The Doctor is a stalker who is one of the key characters in the first part of the game, where he was a member of Strelka's group. He stands out from the rest of the heroes in that he is the best medic in the entire territory of the Zone, which is why a lot of stalkers turn to him. There is a legend according to which the Doctor became the first stalker who reached the Monolith and discovered the Wishmaster, from whom he received his gift of healing. However, the Doctor himself during the game refutes this allegation, saying that not a single person who went to the Monolith returned from there alive. Being the best medical specialist in the entire Zone, the Doctor is also considered a legend, moreover, he is also a longtime friend of the Strelok, whom, according to some versions, he saved from certain death a few years ago, after which he looked after him all the time.

Sidorovich

However, not all key characters in the game are stalkers. The most striking example of this is the merchant Sidorovich. The stalkers know and respect him, because he was the very first merchant who risked moving closer to the Zone in order to trade with the stalkers, helping them in their activities and, of course, earning a living. For all the years of being in the thick of things, Sidorovich has earned himself an impressive reputation. Most of all, he is respected for the fact that he consistently issues tasks to beginners, young stalkers, who without his help would have had an extremely difficult time starting activities in the Zone without any basic training. With the help of Sidorovich, they receive simple tasks, complete them, gain experience, and at the same time earn some money. Thus, it is simply impossible to overestimate what Sidorovich gave the stalkers - although the stalkers make fun of him for his short stature and impressive belly, and they also do not always love him very much for his selfishness and greed, but absolutely everyone respects him.

Ghost

Another legendary stalker is Ghost. He was the Strelka's best friend and his faithful comrade-in-arms. The Ghost was distinguished by his understanding of tactics and was the best strategist of the Zone, he held one of the most important positions in the Strelka group. It was he who, together with Strelok, entered the reactor - the third person was Fang, another legendary stalker. The Trinity was unable to open the door of the bunker, which could hide the secret of the Zone, so the stalkers decided to return and create a decoder that would allow the door to be opened. However, at the exit, the Monoliths were waiting for them, who severely wounded Strelok. Ghost and Fang managed to carry Strelok away and deliver him to the Doctor, saving the life of the most famous stalker. The Ghost continued to work on the decoder together with Fang, but a sudden assault claimed the life of Fang, after which the Ghost, who lost two of his friends, decided to become a mercenary and began working for the Yantar group. During one of the tasks, the Ghost had to take one scientist to an abandoned facility in order to make certain measurements of psi-radiation. A sudden attack by a crowd of mutants ended in failure - instead of turning off the psi-emitter, the scientist fled, leaving the Ghost in a trap, where he died. Strelok later discovered his body, but did not recognize his friend, as he had lost his memory. Stalker Ghost has become one of the fans' favorite characters in the series.

Zulu

Zulu is a stalker who was one of the key characters of the Duty group. It was he who played a key role in rescuing the members of the army of "Duty" and "Freedom", who grappled with each other on the territory of the Zone. The Zulu sensed the Surge coming and told everyone to take cover, causing a large number of stalkers to survive the anomaly. As a result, the Zulu and other activists agreed that the battlefield would become the neutral territory of the Zone, where "Duty" and "Freedom" should forget about their showdowns and remain neutral towards each other. However, after some time, he left the "Debt" for unknown reasons, became a free stalker and was directly involved in the events of the third part of the game, closely interacted with the main character Degtyarev and influenced the events taking place in the game world. His fate is unresolved - this means that depending on your decisions that you make during the game, he can either survive, return to Duty and take one of the leading positions there, or die and receive posthumously one of the most worthy Zone medals.

Flint

So far, we've talked mostly about positive and legendary characters, but there are some not-so-nice personalities among them, such as Flint. This stalker does not have any outstanding features, he is always listed as a beginner, but at the same time he constantly comes up with various stories about how he worked real miracles in the depths of the Zone. Moreover, he appropriates other people's merits, eventually getting to your deeds. He is found in the third part of the game, where you have to expose him, because, in addition to a generally harmless lie, he did something terrible - while on a sortie in a quarry, along with other stalkers, he was attacked by a chimera. Leaving his colleagues to certain death, he fled, while inventing that he single-handedly defeated the chimera when all his comrades were already dead. You have two ways to expose him - you can pressure him to lie about your achievements, or you can find a dying member of the group that Flint was with - he will tell you the truth. Be that as it may, a coward, a liar and a traitor will be punished.

Voronin

Stalker Voronin is one of the most prominent personalities in the trilogy, as he is the leader of one of the most influential groups called "Debt". You can take various quests from him for cleaning up territories, killing bandits and other tasks.

Children's T-shirt "Stalker" color blue

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