Stalking Victim's Decision to Contact the Police: A Test of Gottfredson and Gottfredson's Theory of Criminal Justice Decision Making

• NCJ Number: 232472
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 38 Issue: 5 Dated: September/October 2010 Pages: 998-1005
• Author(s): Bradford W. Reyns; Christine M. Englebrecht
• Date Published: September 2010
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Using the theoretical framework proposed by Gottfredson and Gottfredson (1988), the current study explored how offense seriousness, the victim-offender relationship, and the prior record of the offender influenced a stalking victim's decision to contact the police.

Abstract

There is a significant body of research exploring the reporting behaviors of crime victims. Much of this literature has focused on specific types of victimization (e.g., sexual assault) and the correlates of victim reporting. Recently, the crimes of stalking and cyberstalking have received empirical attention; however, few studies have examined the reporting behaviors of victims of these crimes. Data were drawn from the 2006 stalking supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, which examined stalking in the United States. Results offered support to Gottfredson and Gottfredson (1988) and highlighted the significance of understanding the reporting behaviors for this sample of crime victims. Differences in reporting for victims of stalking and cyberstalking were also examined. Tables and references (Published Abstract)