Donât Underestimate Dangerousness Of Female Stalkers, Study Urges
Abstract
Donât Underestimate Dangerousness Of Female Stalkers, Study UrgesJoan Arehart-Treichel Although men are more notorious for stalking than are women, women stalkers can be just as dangerous. There are far fewer female stalkers than male onesâonly 12 percent to 13 percent of all stalkers, by some counts. But how do female stalkers compare with their male counterparts? Are they just as predatory and dangerous? The answer is yes, according to three authoritiesâPaul Mullen, M.D., a professor of forensic psychiatry at Monash University in Clayton, Victoria, Australia, and Rosemary Purcell and Michele Pathe, also of Monash University (Psychiatric News, June 15, 2001). They reported their results in the December American Journal of Psychiatry.Mullen and his coworkers decided to obtain subjects for their study from a community forensic mental health clinic that specializes in the assessment and management of both stalkers and the stalked. Referrals to the clinic come mostly through the courts, community correctional services, the police, and medical practitioners. Mullen and his colleagues defined stalking for the purpose of their study as persistent (duration of at least four weeks) and repeated (10 or more) attempts to intrude on or communicate with a victim who perceived the behavior as unwelcome