Stalking by Former Intimates: Verbal Threats and Other Predictors of Physical Violence

Scant empirical research has been conducted on the relationship between threats and violence. The purpose of this analysis is to assess the link between verbal threats of violence and actual physical violence against former intimate victims of stalking. The researcher interviewed 187 female former i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Violence and victims 2000-01, Vol.15 (1), p.41-54
Main Author: Brewster, Mary P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aggression - psychology
Alcoholism - diagnosis
Alcoholism - epidemiology
Alcoholism - psychology
Behavior
Behavioral Sciences
Counseling
Courtship
Criminal investigations
Data Interpretation, Statistical
Drugs
Female
Females
Humans
Injuries
Law enforcement
Male
Marriage and Family Counselling
Middle Aged
Murders & murder attempts
Obsessive Behavior - diagnosis
Obsessive Behavior - epidemiology
Obsessive Behavior - psychology
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Policy, Social Justice, and Human Rights
Property damage
Psychology
R&D
Research & development
Risk Factors
Social and Personality Psychology
Social Work
Stalking
Studies
Substance-Related Disorders - diagnosis
Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology
Substance-Related Disorders - psychology
Threat
Verbal Behavior
Victimization
Victims
Violence
Violence - psychology
Violence - statistics & numerical data
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Description
Summary:Scant empirical research has been conducted on the relationship between threats and violence. The purpose of this analysis is to assess the link between verbal threats of violence and actual physical violence against former intimate victims of stalking. The researcher interviewed 187 female former intimate stalking victims, asking respondents about various characteristics of their experiences. Responses to questions pertaining to threats; history of violence; stalkers' drug and alcohol use; frequency of phone calls, "following," and letters during stalking; and victims' age and education were analyzed as possible predictors of three violence-related dependent variables: (a) whether or not violence occurred, (b) the number of violent incidents during stalking, and (c) physical injury during stalking. The results of linear and logistic regression models reveal that, regardless of the measure of violence, there is an independent, moderate, and statistically significant correlation between verbal threats and subsequent violence. Regression coefficients for drug abuse and alcohol abuse were also statistically significant, but only in predicting physical injury during stalking.
ISSN:0886-6708
1945-7073
DOI:10.1891/0886-6708.15.1.41