The British Journal of Psychiatry (2009) 194: 451-455. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.108.054833
© 2009 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit an eLetter
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Purcell, R.
Right arrow Articles by Mullen, P. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Purcell, R.
Right arrow Articles by Mullen, P. E.

Stalking among juveniles

Rosemary Purcell, MPsych, PhD

ORYGEN Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne

Bridget Moller, BA(Hons)

Department of Psychology, RMIT University

Teresa Flower, BA(Hons), MB, ChB, FRANZCP

School of Psychology, Psychiatry & Psychological Medicine, Monash University

Paul E. Mullen, MBBS, DSc, FRCPsych

School of Psychology, Psychiatry & Psychological Medicine, Monash University, and Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health, Victoria, Australia

Correspondence: Dr Rosemary Purcell, ORYGEN Research Centre, Locked Bag 10, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia. Email: rpurcell{at}unimelb.edu.au

Declaration of interest

None.

Funding

This project was supported by a grant (CRC06/05-06) from the Criminology Research Council of Australia. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Council.

Background

There is an almost total lack of empirical research on stalking among juveniles.

Aims

To examine the characteristics, nature and impacts of stalking by juveniles.

Method

Analysis of consecutive court applications for a restraining order against a juvenile because of stalking behaviours.

Results

A total of 299 juvenile stalkers were identified. The majority were male (64%) and their victims predominantly female (69%). Most pursued a previously known victim (98%), favouring direct means of contact via unwanted approaches (76%) and telephone calls or text messaging (67%). Threats (75%) and physical and sexual assaults (54%) were common. The contexts for juvenile stalking involved an extension of bullying (28%), retaliation for a perceived harm (22%), a reaction to rejection (22%), sexual predation (5%) and infatuation (2%).

Conclusions

Juvenile stalking is characterised by direct, intense, overtly threatening and all too often violent forms of pursuit. The seriousness that is afforded to adult forms of stalking should similarly apply to this behaviour among juveniles given the even greater rates of disruption to the victim’s life and risks of being attacked.