Identifying, defining, and assessing the risk of stalking in cases of intimate partner violence
Date
Tuesday 27 August 2024
Time
11am-12pm
Location
Online
Organised by
Te Puna Haumaru New Zealand Institute for Security and Crime Science
Cost
Free
This Te Puna Haumaru Seminar will share new research on stalking definitions and identification, as well as stalking-related risk prediction and will discuss the implications for understanding the overlap between IPV and partner stalking, stalking-related practice, and future research.
Listing of training and other events does not constitute endorsement by the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse. Information is as provided by the organiser. For further information or queries about training or events, please contact the organiser using the links or contact details provided.
This webinar is part of the Te Puna Haumaru Seminar Series and features research from Jordan Tomkin, a Phd Candidate in Psychology at the University of Waikato.
Partner stalking is often framed as a dangerous problem that is distinct from intimate partner violence (IPV) overall, or from other types of IPV (e.g., physical or psychological violence). Such assumptions imply that stalking requires identification, assessment, and response processes distinct from other harmful behaviours in intimate relationships. However, confusion about stalking persists among researchers and practitioners alike.
Teh researchers explored stalking definitions and identification, as well as stalking-related risk prediction, within New Zealand IPV practice. First, they examined police-recorded stalking in episode reports across 1,150 IPV cases and found evidence of stalking within one in every seven IPV cases reported to New Zealand Police, despite police rarely using the label ‘stalking’. Second, they interviewed 14 specialist IPV practitioners to understand practice-based stalking definitions. Rather than providing a conceptual definition, practitioners described stalking as a list of behaviours, with considerable heterogeneity in whether—and, if so, how—stalking was distinguished from other types of harm. Third, they explored whether stalking predicted ongoing IPV reported to police in 1,126 cases and found stalking weakly predicted (any) IPV recurrence and did not predict physical IPV recurrence. Together, the researcher team discussed the implications for understanding the overlap between IPV and partner stalking, stalking-related practice, and future research.