Stalking Program
This treatment is a once a week, fifty-two (52) week program. Each participant is afforded three (3) absences for the intervention. Progress reports to the court or probation department as required. All rules and policies of the program will be signed by the Client at intake.
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Stalking is defined legally as a "Malicious course of conduct that includes approaching or pursuing another person with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear or seriously bodily injury or death." The legal definition of stalking varies by state. In many states, stalking is defined as the "willful, malicious and repeated following and harassing of another person."
Stalking can be difficult to identify at first. Initially a victim may not feel there is any cause for alarm and may feel flattered by the attention. If the behavior escalates and becomes more overt, this could present a very real threat to the victim. Many people experience unwanted attention or contact from an "ex" boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse, a co-worker, a student from a class, a distant friend or even a stranger.
Cybertstalkers
In the electronic version of stalking, "Cyberstalkers" use techniques such as sending threatening or obscene mail, sending viruses, harassing victims in chat rooms, or assuming a person's identity online. Stalking is a series of persistent acts over a period of time.
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As the psychological factors that lead to stalking and harassment are increasingly recognized, the need for clinical interventions designed to target theses issues has emerged. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) represents a particularly desirable approach for treating stalking offenders as it emphasizes behavior change and improving interpersonal effectiveness as well as helping identify precipitants to stalking behaviors and developing/reinforcing an alternative behavioral repertoire. All participants will be assessed using a battery of clinician-rated, self report and behavioral measures before and after the intervention and treatment.