Miss Jordan Tomkins1, Dr Lisa Tompson2, Professor Devon Polaschek1,2
1University Of Waikato, , New Zealand, 2New Zealand Institute of Security and Crime Science, , New Zealand
In intimate relationships with current or previous family harm (FH), stalking is an all-to-common experience. Although stalking is a risk factor for FH homicide and flagged in FH practice guidelines across several jurisdictions, stalking remains a largely overlooked and poorly understood phenomenon. In this study, we examined police-recorded stalking behaviours in FH episode reports for 1,150 cases to (a) contribute to the limited pool of empirical evidence about stalking prevalence rates in FH cases and the labelling practices by police officers and victims; and (b) advance insights about the relevance of relationship status in defining partner stalking. We identified stalking within one in every seven FH cases reported to New Zealand Police, but few police officers or victims explicitly labelled these patterns of behaviour as stalking. Theoretically, this study highlights the importance of adding ‘churning’ to the more typical categories of, and comparisons between, intact and separated relationships. We concluded that partner stalking is best conceptualised as a phenomenon that occurs mainly outside of intact relationships; and importantly, during periods of relationship churning and post-separation. Practically, this study has implications relevant to police, such as the potential benefits of stalking identification training and the ongoing need to monitor stalking from an evidence-based policing perspective.
Biography:
Jordan Tomkins is a PhD Student in the School of Psychology at Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, the University of Waikato; as well as a Research and Teaching Assistant in Te Puna Haumaru, the New Zealand Institute of Security and Crime Science. Her research interests include family harm, stalking, and forensic psychology. She is also a former front line family harm practitioner and police analyst.