A Multi-Theoretical Framework to Assess Gendered Stalking Victimization: The Utility of Self-Control, Social Learning, and Control Balance Theories

Abstract

Despite recent advancements in the criminological study of stalking, few theoretical tests have been conducted to date to explain stalking victimization among men and women separately. The current study individually and simultaneously extends three criminological theories to the study of stalking victimization: self-control, social learning, and control balance theories. Among a sample of 2,766 university students, a series of models were estimated for men and women separately to assess each set of theoretical variables net of control variables. Results reveal consistent significant positive relationships between stalking victimization and low self-control for men; differential peer association (e.g. friends are stalking victims) for men and women; and several social learning variables for only women. However, the control imbalance variables do not explain stalking victimization among men or women, net of other theoretical and control variables. The utility of a multi-theoretical approach to future stalking victimization research is discussed.

Keywords:

• stalking victimization
• self-control
• social learning
• control balance
• gender

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Ronald Akers for his extremely helpful advice regarding theoretical conceptualization and survey development. The authors also wish to thank Alex and Nicky Piquero for their helpful assistance with the construction of survey items.

Notes

¹ Tittle (1995, p. 138) defined defiance as actions where the offender “expresses contempt for, or hostility toward, a norm, a set of norms, or to the individual, group, or organization with which that norm is associated.” According to the control balance theory, defiance is considered to be a form of deviant behavior, which also includes some forms of criminal behavior, such as a disgruntled worker who sabotages a machine or a juvenile who vandalizes school property (i.e. vandalism).

² The response rate for this study was consistent with other non-compensated, Internet-based data collection efforts, which are generally lower than surveys administered by other means (Couper, 2000, 2011; Kaplowitz, Hadlock, & Levine, 2004; Ngo & Paternoster, 2011; Reyns et al., 2011; Sheehan & McMillan, 1999).

³ The 24th item from Grasmick et al.’s (1993, p. 17) original scale was omitted given that respondents may easily misinterpret the item and it also “detracts from the reliability of the composite scale.”

⁴ Technical specifications of segmented non-linear regression models have been documented thoroughly elsewhere. For discussion, see Neter, Wasserman, and Kutner (1985).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kathleen A. Fox

Kathleen A. Fox is an assistant professor in the School of Criminology & Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. She earned her PhD in Criminology, Law and Society from the University of Florida. Her research interests include victimization, gangs, theory, and research methods. Her work has recently appeared in Criminology, Justice Quarterly, Criminal Justice & Behavior, and the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.

Matt R. Nobles

Matt R. Nobles is an assistant professor in the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University. His research interests include violent and interpersonal crimes, gun policy, GIS and spatial econometrics, and quantitative methods. His recent work has appeared in Justice Quarterly, Crime & Delinquency, Aggression and Violent Behavior, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Journal of Criminal Justice, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Criminal Justice and Behavior, and the American Journal of Public Health.

Bonnie S. Fisher

Bonnie S. Fisher is a professor in the School of Justice at the University of Cincinnati. She earned the PhD degree at Northwestern University. She was awarded the 2012 George Rieveschl Award for Creative and/or Scholarly Works from the University of Cincinnati. She has co-edited and co-authored a number of books, including the Encyclopedia of Victimology and Crime Prevention (Sage, 2010), The Dark Side of the Ivory Tower: Campus Crime as a Social Problem (Cambridge University Press, 2011), Unsafe in the Ivory Tower: The Sexual Victimization of College Women (Sage, 2010)—which won the 2011 Outstanding Book Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and co-editor of Campus Crime: Legal, Social and Policy Perspectives, 3rd ed. (Charles Thomas, 2013). She also serves on the National Academy of Sciences Panel on Measuring Rape and Sexual Assault in Bureau of Justice Statistics Household Surveys. Her more than 150 published articles and chapters span the field of victimology, and her primary research area has been on violence against women, from domestic violence to sexual assault, with an emphasis on college women.