Problematic approach of legislators: Differentiating stalking from isolated incidents

The relative absence of political figure targets from stalking research is problematic for law enforcement personnel challenged with distinguishing cases representing a onetime contact from those that continue or escalate. Accordingly, this study compared solitary cases of problematic approach with stalking and intrusive harassment of legislators using 15 offender, contact, and motivation variables. Results revealed a significant model that correctly reclassified 85% of the single-approach cases and 50% of the stalking cases. Significant risk factors emerged that highlighted the persistent, focused, and multifaceted pursuit of political figure stalkers and intrusive harassers. More generally, results underscore the superior utility of contact and motivational variables for discriminating groups and the need for appropriate comparison groups when describing stalkers across contexts.