An Exploratory Investigation of Traditional Stalking and Cyberstalking Victimization among University Students in Spain and the United States: A Comparative Analysis
| Autor | Victoria Fernández-Cruz/José R. Agustina/Fawn T. Ngo |
| Cargo | Universitat Internacional de Catalunya/Universitat Abat Oliba CEU/University of South Florida |
| Páginas | 1-14 |
https://idp.uoc.edu
ARTICLE
An Exploratory Investigation of
Traditional Stalking and Cyberstalking
Victimization among University
Students in Spain and the United
States: A Comparative Analysis
Victoria Fernández-Cruz
Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
José R. Agustina
Universitat Abat Oliba CEU
Fawn T. Ngo
University of South Florida
Date of submission: July 2020
Accepted in: September 2020
Published in: March 2021
Abstract
Traditional stalking and cyberstalking have become a signifi cant legal and social issue in today’s
society. Although a sizeable body of research on stalking victimization and perpetration currently
exists, very little is known about cyberstalking victimization. Relatedly, there is a dearth of compa-
rative research on the topics of traditional stalking and cyberstalking. Examining the prevalence
and nature of stalking victimization across national settings will allow for an exploration of the sig-
nifi cance of social context in affecting victims’ experiences as well as help highlight the competing
infl uences operating in different contexts. Cross-national research on stalking will also provide an
opportunity to consider a wide range of alternative options and solutions to the problem. The aim
of this study is to compare and contrast the prevalence and nature of traditional stalking and cy-
berstalking victimization between American and Spanish university students. This study focuses
IDP Iss. 32 (March, 2021) I ISSN 1699-8154 Journal promoted by the Department of Law and Political Science
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2021, Victoria Fernández-Cruz, José R. Agustina, Fawn T. Ngo
of this edition: 2021, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
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IDP Iss. 32 (March, 2021) I ISSN 1699-8154 Journal promoted by the Department of Law and Political Science
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Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
An Exploratory Investigation of Traditional Stalking and Cyberstalking Victimization
among University Students in Spain and the United States: A Comparative Analysis
2021, Victoria Fernández-Cruz, José R. Agustina, Fawn T. Ngo
of this edition: 2021, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
on university students because there is evidence that they have a higher risk of becoming victims
of stalking relative to the general population. Moreover, the comparative analysis undertaking in
this study involves a country that has criminalized stalking for almost three decades (the United
States) and a country that has just recently enacted an anti-stalking statute (Spain). Such analysis
is warranted as it will allow the researchers to engage in critical analyses of current anti-stalking
statutes and advocate for innovative, sensible, and effective solutions in addressing the crime of
stalking. In addition to presenting the results, the policy implications derived from the study will
also be discussed..
Keywords
stalking, cyberstalking, cross-national research, university students
Investigación exploratoria y análisis comparativo del acoso
convencional y el ciberacoso de estudiantes universitarios en
España y Estados Unidos
Resumen
El acoso convencional y el ciberacoso constituyen un problema social y jurídico en la sociedad actual.
Si bien se cuenta con un considerable corpus de investigaciones sobre el acoso, sus víctimas y los per-
petradores, no ocurre lo mismo en el caso de la victimización por ciberacoso, sobre el que se sabe muy
poco. Existe supuestamente un cúmulo de investigaciones comparativas en torno al acoso convencional
y el acoso on-line. El estudio de la prevalencia y la naturaleza del acoso del que son objeto las víctimas
en sus contextos nacionales permite explorar la importancia del contexto social y la manera en que
éste afecta la experiencia de la víctima, así como resaltar las infl uencias concurrentes que operan en
diferentes contextos. Asimismo, la investigación comparativa del acoso en países diferentes permitirá
considerar una amplia variedad de opciones alternativas y soluciones al problema. El presente estudio
se centra en comparar y contrastar la prevalencia y las características del acoso tradicional y el cibera-
coso en los estudiantes universitarios de España y de EE.UU., pues existen evidencias de que estos están
en mayor riesgo de ser víctimas en comparación con su población en general. Asimismo, el análisis
comparativo se centra en los Estados Unidos, donde el acoso es tipifi cado como delito desde hace casi
tres décadas, y en España, un país cuya legislación contra el acoso ha sido promulgada recientemente.
Este enfoque se justifi ca por cuanto posibilita un análisis crítico de las leyes anti-acoso por parte de los
investigadores y la promoción de soluciones innovadoras, razonables y efi caces para hacer frente a los
delitos de acoso. Además de presentar sus resultados, el estudio se complementa con una discusión
acerca de las implicaciones para las políticas derivadas de éste.
Palabras clave
acoso, ciberacoso, investigación transnacional, estudiantes universitarios
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Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
An Exploratory Investigation of Traditional Stalking and Cyberstalking Victimization
among University Students in Spain and the United States: A Comparative Analysis
2021, Victoria Fernández-Cruz, José R. Agustina, Fawn T. Ngo
of this edition: 2021, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
1. Introduction
Stalking is a relatively new crime in Spain. In 2001, at the
Council of Europe’s Convention on Preventing and Com-
bating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence
in Istanbul, the subject of combatting violence against
women emerged as a top priority on the European Union
political agenda. In particular, a series of behaviors were
identifi ed as criminal at the meeting and the signatory
countries subsequently introduced a series of unwanted
and harassing behaviors in their penal codes. Among the-
se behaviors was stalking. In March 2015, stalking was out-
lawed and included in the Spanish Criminal Code through
the organic law 1/2015 (article 172b).
Several studies in the stalking fi eld have highlighted cer-
tain limitations on the methodology since there is –as of
now– no consensus on how stalking should be defi ned
(Nobles et al., 2012). On one hand, American studies often
defi ne stalking as repeated and unwanted –usually non-
physical– contact imposed on another in a manner which
could be expected to cause distress and or fear for their
safety (Basile, Swahn, Chen & Saltzman, 2006; Baum, Ca-
talano & Rand, 2009). In Spain, on the other hand, stalking
is defi ned as persistent or repetitive behavior or activities
imposed on another person in a manner that results in a
disruption of the individual’s daily life (Villacampa & Pujols,
2017). Article 172 ter of the Spanish Criminal Code also
includes a list of conducts and activities that the Spanish
criminal system considers stalking. Although the Ame-
rican and Spanish defi nitions of stalking both highlight
persistence, repetition and intrusiveness when defi ning
this crime, the American defi nition requires the victim to
feel distressed and/or fear, while the Spanish defi nition
emphasizes how the events negatively affect or alter the
victim’s life.
In prior studies on stalking there was no explicit mentio-
ning of the different characteristics that would indicate cy-
berstalking is different from offl ine stalking. Further, these
studies did not cast doubt upon whether cyberstalking
and traditional stalking could be separate phenomena.
However, there is currently a persisting debate on whether
cyberstalking should be considered an individual pheno-
menon –it can happen without there being any signs of
offl ine stalking– (Bocij & McFarlane, 2003), or acknowled-
ging there is a conceptual overlap between online and
offl ine stalking and that the only difference between those
two is the space where they take place. (Nobles et al., 2012;
Sheridan & Grant, 2007). The debate shines a light on the
necessity for more research on this topic.
The defi nition of cyberstalking varies in the literature and
there is terminological confusion. However, cyberstalking
is generally defi ned as a pattern of reiterated and insis-
tent behaviour associated with the use of Information
and Communications Technology (ICT) –such as laptops,
mobile phones, or tablets– which induces in the victim fear
or distress (Maple, Short, & Brown, 2011; Nobles et al., 2012;
Short, Linford, Wheatcroft, & Maple, 2014).
1.1. Stalking and cyberstalking prevalence
The prevalence rate of stalking victimisation in the U.S. for
the general population is estimated to be between 5% and
28%, increasing to between 7% and 56% among college
students (Spitzberg & Cupach, 2014). A similar pattern has
been documented in Spain where the prevalence rate for
the general population is estimated at 11% (FRA, 2014)
and the prevalence rate for the university population is
estimated to be between 30% and 70% (Villacampa &
Pujols, 2017; León & Aizpurúa, 2019). As evident from the
research conducted in the United States and Europe, the
age group with a heightened risk for stalking victimization
are women and men between the ages of 18 and 20. Hence,
it is not surprising that a large proportion of prior research
has focused on university students. In the United States,
the prevalence rate for female university students is esti-
mated to be between 13% to 30% and for male university
students, it is between 11% to 19% (eg, Fisher, Cullen & Tur-
ner, 2002; Fremouw, Westrup & Pennypacker, 1997; Nobles,
Fox, Piquiero & Piquiero, 2009; Reynes & Scherer, 2018;
Shorey, Cornelius, & Strauss, 2015).
Studies about cyberstalking in the U.S. indicate that the
prevalence rate of cyberstalking victimisation is around
3-18% to 40% (Alexy, Burgess, Baker & Smoyak, 2005;
Bocij & McFarlane, 2003; Finn, 2004; Nobles et al., 2014).
It is noteworthy that the disparity found in the prevalence
of cyberstalking and traditional stalking is due to differen-
ces in the methodology and the operationalization of the
variables and the sample used. (Cavezza & McEwan, 2014;
Nobles et al., 2014).
Although studies examining offl ine stalking or online stal-
king abound, only a handful of studies have focused on the
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Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
An Exploratory Investigation of Traditional Stalking and Cyberstalking Victimization
among University Students in Spain and the United States: A Comparative Analysis
2021, Victoria Fernández-Cruz, José R. Agustina, Fawn T. Ngo
of this edition: 2021, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
relationship between these two types of stalking. One such
study is the one conducted by Alexy et al. (2005) which is
considered to be one of the most important studies on the
topic to date. The sample in Alexy et al.’s study consists
of 765 university students. The researchers found that
although females were more likely to be stalked offl ine,
males were more likely to be cyberstalked than females
and were likely to have also been victimized offl ine. Some
researchers point out that it is common, for stalkers, to
start showing stalking behaviours in cyberspace and later
threaten the victim to continue them in the physical world
(Bocij, Griffi ths, & McFarlane, 2002; Lee, 1998), coming to
be considered a predictor of offl ine harassment behaviour
(Reynes, Henson & Fisher, 2011).
In a more recent study conducted by Reyns & Fisher
(2018) a sample of 3,488 university students was used to
investigate the relation between online and offl ine stalking
victimization. Reyns & Fisher (2018) concluded that there
is, in fact, a relation between the two. They found online
stalking to be an added strategy for the stalker to commit
such acts. Their study also concludes that gender plays a
big part in the type of received stalking and the relation
between online and offl ine stalking. The chances for men
to become victims of offl ine stalking increased when they
had been stalked online beforehand. Women were more
likely to be stalked online when they had previously ex-
perienced offl ine stalking. And women who were stalked
online in the fi rst place had a lower risk to become victims
of offl ine stalking.
Other studies have examined the differences between
online and offl ine stalking through the stalker’s point of
view. One example of such is the study conducted by Ca-
vezza & McEwan (2014). They were the fi rst to examine
and compare a forensic sample of perpetrators who had
stalked their victims online and offl ine. The authors con-
cluded that most cyberstalkers had also acted similarly in
the offl ine world and that they were more likely to use a
larger variety of methods to come into contact with the
victims than offl ine stalkers. This study also pointed out
that perpetrators stalked mostly women and that there
was usually a previous relationship between victim and
perpetrator.
As we have seen, the data gathered by the literature
around the topic remains scarce and, in some cases, in-
consistent. Therefore, more research is needed.
2. Present Study
There is a growing interest among Spanish academics in
examining the crime of stalking as evidenced by a series
of recent publications. In this exploratory investigation
we seek to contribute to the existing body of scholarship
on this topic by exploring the prevalence of stalking and
cyberstalking victimization among Spanish and American
university students and describing the differences bet-
ween the two. Besides, the characteristics of the victims
will be analyzed in greater detail for a better understan-
ding of the phenomenon. We hypothesize, after studying
the previous body of research, that: (1) the victimization
rate for stalking behavior will stand higher for women than
men in both countries (Basile, 2006; Villacampa & Pujols,
2017), (2) the victimization rate for cyberstalking behavior
will be higher for men than for women in both countries
(Alexy et al., 2005; Reyns & Fisher, 2018).
3. Method
3.1. Procedure
Data from the present study came from an online self-
report survey of victimization and perpetration of stalking
behavior. The instrument used is a version of the Supple-
mental Victimization Survey (SVS) of the National Crime
Victimization Survey (NCVS) (Baum et al., 2009) trans-
lated into Spanish. On February 6, 2018, the survey was
approved by the Committee of Research Ethics (CER) of
the International University of Catalonia (UIC Barcelona).
During the last week of February 2018 an email was sent by
the coordinators of different undergraduate and graduate
programs from different universities of Spain and the
U.S. The participation was voluntary and anonymous. The
students were informed that the average time to answer
the questions was 20 to 25 minutes (including the average
time response). The researcher’s contact also appeared
in the survey instructions in case the participants needed
help or additional information. The survey included ques-
tions related to sociodemographic information of the res-
pondents and divided the succeeding questions into two
large blocks: the fi rst part consisted of 35 questions about
stalking victimization and the second block centered
around stalking perpetration (10 questions). The survey
avoids using the word harassment or stalking, although
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Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
An Exploratory Investigation of Traditional Stalking and Cyberstalking Victimization
among University Students in Spain and the United States: A Comparative Analysis
2021, Victoria Fernández-Cruz, José R. Agustina, Fawn T. Ngo
of this edition: 2021, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
reference is made to the term “unwanted behavior”. All
data have been analyzed using the statistical package
SPSS version 26.
3.2. Sample
A total of 2,610 students participated in the study, 1,796
from Spain (68.8%) and 814 from the U.S. (31.2%). A total
of 1,879 of the sample is female (72%) and 718 (27.5%) is
male. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 64 (M = 21.2
years, SD = 4.31). Regarding the procedure of sample co-
llection, a mixed methodology was chosen: a total of 717
(27.5%) of the Spanish surveys were administered in per-
son, and the rest (72.5%) using the Qualtrics online plat-
form. This fact will be taken into account in the analysis of
the data and interpretation of the results. Approximately
half of the sample is single (55.5%), while 41.3% declare
that they have a partner; 1.4% are married and 0.9% indi-
cate they have a common-law partner; 0.6% are divorced.
None of those surveyed indicate that they are a widow.
Regarding the living situation, 45.7% of the sample (1,185)
live with their parents, 27% (704) recognize living in a
students’ apartment, 3.7% live in an off-campus dorm (97)
and 11.2% (293) live in an on-campus dorm, 6.6% (171) live
with a signifi cant other and 5.5% (143) live by themselves.
In this regard, it is important to point out the differences
between Spanish and American students regarding their
living situation. More than half of the Spanish students
admitted to living with their parents, while a greater part
of the American students were independent and lived
either in a student apartment or on a dormitory campus.
This fact is interesting to analyze because it could be a
cultural difference to take into account. Regarding their
employment status, more than half of the sample was
unemployed and the other approximate half had a part-
time job. Exactly 5.5% of the sample had a full-time job
and studied at the same time.
Full sample Spain USA
Variables N % n % n %
Gender
Male 718 27.5 494 27. 5 224 27.5
Female 1,879 72 1,289 71.8 590 72.5
Total 2610 100 1 ,783 68.8 814 31.2
Marital Status
Single 1,444 55.3 995 55.4 449 55.2
Boyfriend/Girlfriend 1,078 41.3 741 41.3 37 41.4
Married 44 1.7 25 1.4 19 2.3
Common-Law Partner 24 0.9 19 1.1 50.6
Divorced 16 0.6 12 0.7 40.5
Living Situation
With their parents 1,185 45.4 1,096 61 89 10.9
Student apartment 704 27 413 23 291 35.7
Off campus dorm 97 3.7 75 4.2 22 2.7
On campus dorm 293 11.2 16 0.9 277 34
With sgnifi cant other 143 5.5 72 471 8.7
By themselves 171 6.6 107 6 64 7. 9
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Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
An Exploratory Investigation of Traditional Stalking and Cyberstalking Victimization
among University Students in Spain and the United States: A Comparative Analysis
2021, Victoria Fernández-Cruz, José R. Agustina, Fawn T. Ngo
of this edition: 2021, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
Regarding their employment status, more than half of the
sample was unemployed and the other approximate half
had a part-time job. Exactly 5.5% of the sample had a full-
time job and studied at the same time.
3.3. Measures
In order to know the characteristics of the victims a
questionnaire was designed to measure the following
constructs:
• Age. The variable age will be measured in years. The
participants in this study had to be 18 years old or more.
• Sex. The variable sex will be coded as 1 = female, 0 =
male;
• Country. The variable country will be coded as 1 = Spain,
2 = The U.S.
• Marital Status. This variable was coded as follows: (1)
Single, (2) Boyfriend/Girlfriend, (3) Married, (4) Com-
mon-Law Partner and (5) Divorced.
• Living Situation. This variable was coded as follows: (1)
living with their parents, (2) student apartment, (3) off-
campus dorm, (4) on-campus dorm, (5) with signifi cant
other and (6) by themselves.
• Stalking victimization. For the present investigation, we
have considered victims of stalking those who have indi-
cated that they have experienced at some point in their
life and on more than one occasion any of the following
unwanted contacts that could have been committed by
a stranger, acquaintance, friend, relative or partner: a)
received unwanted calls or unwanted messages on the
answering machine; b) having been followed or spied
on; c) someone had waited for them outside or inside a
room; d) someone had appeared in unsuspected places;
e) someone had given unwanted things, gifts or fl owers.
The answers, of a dichotomous nature, will be coded as
1 = the person has experienced an intrusive behavior at
some time and 0 = the person has not experienced any
intrusive behavior. If the person indicates that they have
only suffered one of the exposed behaviors, they will be
differentiated from those who have indicated that they
have suffered more than one of the behaviors, coded as
multiple forms of victimization by stalking.
• Cyberstalking victimization. We have considered vic-
tims of cyberstalking those who have indicated that
they have experienced at some point in their life and on
more than one occasion any of the following unwanted
contact that could have been committed by a stranger,
acquaintance, friend, relative or partner: a) receiving
unsolicited or unwanted e-mails and b) having informa-
tion about them posted on the Internet. The answers, of
a dichotomous nature, will be coded as 1 = the person
has experienced an intrusive behavior at some time
and 0 = the person has not experienced any intrusive
behavior. If the person indicates that they have only
suffered one of the exposed behaviors, they will be
differentiated from those who have indicated that they
have suffered more than one of the behaviors, coded as
multiple forms of victimization by cyberstalking.
• Duration of stalking and cyberstalking behavior: stu-
dents were asked for how long had they experienced
those unwanted behaviors: (1) between 1 and 6 days, (2)
between 1 and 3 weeks, (3) between 1 and 11 months, (4)
years or (5) I do not know.
• Relationship with the author: the variable relationship
with the author of the unwanted behaviors will be co-
ded as (1) husband or wife, (2) ex-husband or ex-wife,
(3) parents or step-parents, (4) son, daughter or step-
Work Situation
Not employed 1,608 61.6 1,228 68.6 380 46.7
Full-time employed 143 5.5 87 4.8 56 6.9
Part-time employed 851 32.6 473 26. 3 378 46.4
Table 1. Sample characteristics (N= 2,610)
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Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
An Exploratory Investigation of Traditional Stalking and Cyberstalking Victimization
among University Students in Spain and the United States: A Comparative Analysis
2021, Victoria Fernández-Cruz, José R. Agustina, Fawn T. Ngo
of this edition: 2021, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
child, (5) sibling or step-sibling, (6) other relative, (7)
boyfriend or girlfriend, (8) ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend,
(9) friend or ex-friend, (10) roommate, (11) classmate,
(12) neighbour, (13) client, (14) student, (15) patient, (16)
supervisor, (17) work partner, (18) known, (19) unknown,
(20) other, (21) impossible to identify the person.
4. Results
The study found that 7.5% (197) of the sample had been
stalked offl ine on more than one occasion during their
lifetime and 12.1% (316) reported to be cyberstalked. The
frequencies with which respondents reported being vic-
timized online or offl ine are presented in Table 2. When
we analyze all the victims, we see that 18.1 % (197) were
stalked offl ine and 29.1% (316) were cyberstalked. As
we can see, cyberstalking is more prevalent than offl ine
stalking. In relation to the victims’ gender, females have
a higher victimization rate online and offl ine than males.
This fact is not surprising, since there are many investi-
gations that have obtained the same results (eg, Tjaden
& Thoennes, 1998; Miller, 2012, Mullen, MacKenzie, Ogloff,
Pathé, McEwan & Purcell, 2006). These results could also
be explained by the fact that in the sample there are more
females represented than males. As for the age of the
victims the mean age is 21.5 (SD = 4.9) for offl ine stalking
victims and 21.9 (SD = 5.6) for cyberstalking victims.
When we analyze the results in closer detail we can see
that men report more offl ine victimization (32%) than
online (16.8%), both in Spain (30.8% offl ine and 15.8%
online) and in the United States (34.4% offl ine and 18.8%
online), although it is true that the difference between
percentages is not very high. As for women, the results
go in the opposite direction. Women report becoming
more often victims of stalking in the online environment
(82.3%) than offl ine (68%). These results are surprising,
because they contradict some above-mentioned investiga-
tions (Alexy et al., 2005; Reyns & Fisher, 2018). This issue
should be further analyzed in future research.
The students who indicated that they were single were the
ones who reported the greatest number of stalking vic-
timization, both online and offl ine. Regarding their living
situation, in the case of Spain, most victims lived with their
parents. However, it is interesting to see how in the United
States most offl ine stalking victims lived on a campus
dorm (43.8%) and most cyberstalking victims (40%) lived
in a student apartment.
As for the gender of the stalker, regardless of the country,
we can see how the majority of the victims indicate ha-
ving been stalked by a male perpetrator. However, it can
be seen that females who stalk tend to perform stalking
in the offl ine world in contrast to doing it online. With
respect to the relationship between the stalker and the
victim, in Spain 17.3% (23) of the victims indicated that
they had been stalked by an ex-boyfriend/ex-girlfriend.
While regarding the victims who had been stalked online,
in 25.8% (57) of cases they knew their stalker but did
not have any kind of intimate relationship with them. In
contrast, in the U.S. 20.3% (13) of offl ine victims recog-
nised having been stalked by a friend and in the 28.4%
(27) of cyberstalking cases the actions were executed by
someone who the victim had met before. Being stalked
by a stranger was more common in cyberstalking cases
rather than offl ine stalking. Finally, it is interesting to see
how most victims do not remember how long the stalking
lasted, and those who did remember indicated that it had
lasted for years.
In summary, these results show that females are at a
higher risk of becoming victims of offl ine and online
stalking regardless of the country they live in, and males
tend to stalk more than their counterparts. Most of the
victims are single. In Spain more than 50% of victims
live with their parents. However, in the U.S. there is an
existent difference between offl ine and online stalking
victimisation in terms of their living situation, where
43.8% (28) of the offl ine stalking victims live on campus
dorms but 40% (38) of online stalking victims live in
student apartments.
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Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
An Exploratory Investigation of Traditional Stalking and Cyberstalking Victimization
among University Students in Spain and the United States: A Comparative Analysis
2021, Victoria Fernández-Cruz, José R. Agustina, Fawn T. Ngo
of this edition: 2021, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
All sample
(N = 513)
Spain
(n = 354)
USA
(n =159)
Offl ine stalking
197 (18.1)
Cyberstalking
316 (29.1)
Offl ine stalking
133 (37.6)
Cyberstalking
221 (62.4)
Offl ine stalking
64 (40.2)
Cyberstalking
95 (59.7)
Victims’ Sex
Male 63 (32) 53 (16.8) 41 (30.8) 35 (15.8) 22 (34.4) 18 (18.9)
Female 134 (68) 260 (82.3) 92 (69.2) 183 (82.8) 42 (65.6) 77 (81.1)
Marital situation
Single 98 (49.7) 171 (54.1) 72 (54.1) 112 (50.7) 26 (40.6) 59 (62.1)
Boyfriend/Girlfriend 93 (47.2) 129 (40.8) 56 (42.1) 97 (43.9) 37 (57.8) 32 (33.7)
Married 4 (2) 6 (1.9) 3 (2. 3) 4 (1.8) 1 (1.6) 2 (2.1)
Common-Law Parnter 1 (.5) 4 (1.3) 1 (.8) 4 (1.8) - -
Divorced 1 (.5) 5 (1.6) 1 (.8) 3 (1.4) - 2 (2.1)
Living Situation
With their parents 88 (44.7) 140 (44.3) 79 (59.4) 132 (59.7) 9 (14.1) 8 (8.4)
Student apartment 51 (25.9) 74 (24.7) 33 (24.8) 40 (18.1) 18 (28.1) 38 (40)
Off campus dorm 7 (3.6) 8 (2.5) 5 (3.8) 6 (2.7) 2 (3.1) 2 (2.1)
On campus drom 28 (14.2) 34 (10.8) - 3 (1.4) 28 (43.8) 31 (32.6)
MWith signfi cant
other 9 (4.6) 24 (7.6) 6 (4.5) 12 (5.4) 3 (4.7) 12 (12.6)
Themselves 12 (6.1) 28 (8.9) 8 (6) 24 (10.9) 4 (6.3) 4 (4.2)
Sex Stalker
Male 131 (66.5) 258 (82.9) 91 (68.4) 184 (83.7) 40 (62.5) 74 (77.9)
Female 49 (24.9) 26 (8.2) 30 (22.6) 17 (7.7) 19 (62.5) 9 (9.5)
Don’t know 6 (3) 18 (5.7) 4 (3) 12 (5.4) 2 (3.1) 6 (6.3)
Relationship with the stalker
Relative 1 (.5) 3 (.9) 1 (.8) 2 (.9) - 1 (1.1)
Boyfriend/Grilfriend 11 (5.6) 21 (6.6) 6 (4.5) 14 (6.3) 5 (7.8) 7 (7.4)
ExBoyfriend/
ExGirldfriend 32 (16.2) 41 (13) 23 (17.3) 28 (12.7) 9 (14.1) 13 (13.7)
Friend 35 (17.8) 22 (7) 22 (16.5) 13 (5.9) 13 (20.3) 9 (9.5)
Known 28 (14.2) 84 (26.6) 19 (14.3) 57 (25.8) 9 (14.1) 27 (28.4)
Stranger 9 (4.6) 35 (11.1) 6 (4.5) 32 (14.5) 3 (4.7) 3 (3.2)
Friends on social
media 17 (8.6) 18 (5.7) 15 (11.3) 16 (7.2) 2 (3.1) 2 (2.1)
Other 17 (8.6) 29 (9.2) 12 (9) 15 (6.8) 5 (7.8) 14 (14.7)
Eloi Puig
IDP Iss. 32 (March, 2021) I ISSN 1699-8154 Journal promoted by the Department of Law and Political Science
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Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
An Exploratory Investigation of Traditional Stalking and Cyberstalking Victimization
among University Students in Spain and the United States: A Comparative Analysis
2021, Victoria Fernández-Cruz, José R. Agustina, Fawn T. Ngo
of this edition: 2021, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
Generally, the victim and the stalker know each other;
however, in the offl ine stalking cases the relationship
between the two is closer than cyberstalking where the
emotional bond is not so close.
To see if there was a relation between stalking victimiza-
tion and cyberstalking victimization, a chi-square test was
conducted. There was a signifi cant relation between these
two forms of victimization,
2
(1, n=1078) = 65.508, p<.000,
although it is true that the strength of the association
is weak (Cramer’s V = .247) (See Table 3). The same test
was carried out to analyze the same relationship between
forms of victimization, but differentiating the country of
origin. In the case of Spain, the relationship between the
variables was signifi cant (
2
(1, n = 643) = 73.123, p <.000;
Cramer’s V =.337), as in the United States (
2
(1, n = 435) =
5.225, p <.022; Cramer’s V = .110). If we compare the results
of both countries, we can say that Spanish students claim
to have been victims of stalking both online and offl ine
more often than U.S. students, although it is true that the
difference is not very pronounced. A limitation that we
must take into account is that there were more Spanish
students than American students participating in the sam-
ple, which could explain the above results.
Time of the Stalking
Days 22 (11.2) 46 (14.6) 17 (12.8) 39 (17.6) 5 (7.8) 7 (7.4)
Weeks 11 (5.6) 21 (6.6) 9 (6.8) 16 (7.2) 2 (3.1) 5 (5.3)
Months 36 (18.3) 50 (15.8) 23 (17.3) 30 (13.6) 13 (20.3) 20 (21.1)
Years 37 (18.8) 68 (21.5) 23 (17.3) 43 (19.5) 14 (21.9) 25 (26.3)
Dont’ know 52 (26.4) 80 (25.3) 40 (30.1) 60 (27.1) 12 (18.8) 20 (21.1)
Table 2. Victims’ characteristics (%)
Offl ine Stalking Victimization
2
Cramer’s V
No Yes
Cyberstalking
Victimization
No 53.4 17.3 65.508* .24 7
Yes 28.3 1
p<.000
Table 3. Relationship between stalking victimization and cyberstalking (%)
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Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
An Exploratory Investigation of Traditional Stalking and Cyberstalking Victimization
among University Students in Spain and the United States: A Comparative Analysis
2021, Victoria Fernández-Cruz, José R. Agustina, Fawn T. Ngo
of this edition: 2021, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
The next step was to analyze the differences based on the
gender, and the country of residence of the victim, and se-
parating them according to the type of stalking reported.
In this sense, a chi-square test was conducted to investiga-
te if there was a systematic relation between country and
cyberstalking victimization on females and males. There
was a signifi cant relation in the group of females between
their country and becoming a victim of cyberstalking (
2
(1,
n =861) = 18.800, p <.000), which was absent in the case of
males (
2
(1, n=212) = 1.278, p <.258). The same procedure
was used to analyze the relation between country and
offl ine stalking victimization in men and women. Again,
there was a signifi cant relation in the women’s group (
2
(1, n = 860) = 5.618, p <.018) but not in men’s (
2
(1, n = 212)
= 1.185, p <.276).
Overall, these results indicate that there is a signifi cant
relation between the country where the victim lives and
the type of victimization females suffer.
5. Discussion and Conclusions
The fact that there’s scarce literature in Spain about the
phenomenon of stalking and cyberbullying is not surpri-
sing, as it is a relatively new crime in our context. However,
in Anglo-Saxon countries, and especially in the United
States, there is more experience in this regard. One of the
main problems when we do research on stalking is the lack
of agreement to defi ne what is stalking and what is cy-
berstalking (Owns, 2016). Currently, there is no universally
accepted defi nition of stalking either in the legal sphere or
in the academic arena. Nevertheless, we have identifi ed
three common and overlapping elements: the repetition,
the victim or the fact that the victim does not wish to
receive these behaviours and the negative consequence
derived from the conduct of stalking.
As mentioned in the literature review, stalking is a pheno-
menon present in society that affects about 11 to 20% of the
population; generally, those who are at greater risk of being
victimised are young women, especially those that are in a uni-
versity/college context (Basile et al., 2006; Baum et al., 2009;
FRA, 2014; Tjaden & Thoennes, 1998). That explains why
stalking research has focused mainly on the university con-
text. This also accords with our earlier observations, which
showed that females reported, to a greater extent, becoming
victims of stalking in both Spain and the United States.
One of the objectives of the project was to identify the
differences in the prevalence of stalking and cyberstal-
king victimization in Spain and in the U.S. The results
are consistent with previous studies (Cavezza & McEwan,
2014): single females are at a higher risk of being stalked
and cyberstalked by males in both countries and there
is usually some kind of previous relationship between
them. It has also been observed that the bond between
the two parts in offl ine stalking cases is narrower than in
cyberstalking cases. This result may be explained by the
fact that stalking someone in the physical world implies
a more direct contact with the victim than in an online
world. Having a previous relationship between the two
makes it easier to fi nd that physical contact. In this re-
gard, it’s interesting to note that cyberstalking victims
in the U.S. usually live in student apartments and offl ine
victims tend to live in campus dorms. Thus, the closeness
and proximity between victims and perpetrators could
explain offl ine stalking.
Another important fi nding was that the number of victims
of stalking and cyberstalking that reported that the vic-
timization occurred during a period of years was higher
than those who reported that the victimization occurred
for months or weeks or days. A possible explanation for
this fact is that the victims who are stalked, either offl ine
or online, for a longer time are more aware and can better
identify the stalking victimization process to which they
are being subjected. The victims who have been stalked
for days or weeks will not recognise the process as easily
and could have a harder time identifying themselves as
victims. However, caution must be applied as the fi ndings
might not be representative.
It has been suggested that men are more exposed to
being victims of cyberstalking than women and that wo-
men are at a higher risk of becoming victims of offl ine
stalking (Alexy et al., 2005; Reyns & Fisher, 2018). This
does not appear to be the case. Contrary to expectations,
this study found that men claim to be victims of offl ine
stalking more often than cyberstalking, while females
claim to be victims of cyberstalking more often than
offl ine stalking in both countries. A possible explanation
for this might be that both men and women are more
sensitized to this type of behavior and therefore, they
can identify it. Further research should be undertaken to
investigate in this regard.
Eloi Puig
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Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
An Exploratory Investigation of Traditional Stalking and Cyberstalking Victimization
among University Students in Spain and the United States: A Comparative Analysis
2021, Victoria Fernández-Cruz, José R. Agustina, Fawn T. Ngo
of this edition: 2021, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
Finally, this is an exploratory study, therefore it is neces-
sary to continue investigating. Future investigations will be
aimed at learning about the relation between stalking and
cyberstalking denounced by the victims, as well as seeing
what strategies they use to face the situation of stalking.
In this way, legislative and social proposals can be carried
out taking into account all these issues. In addition, since
it is a comparative study, it will be possible to analyze the
differences between coping strategies and overcoming in
each country, and to see, therefore, what works and what
does not work so that what we fi nd that does work can be
implemented everywhere.
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An Exploratory Investigation of Traditional Stalking and Cyberstalking Victimization
among University Students in Spain and the United States: A Comparative Analysis
2021, Victoria Fernández-Cruz, José R. Agustina, Fawn T. Ngo
of this edition: 2021, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
An Exploratory Investigation of Traditional Stalking and Cyberstalking Victimization
among University Students in Spain and the United States: A Comparative Analysis
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About the authors
Victoria Fernández-Cruz
vfcruz@uic.cat
Victoria Fernández-Cruz is a predoctoral scholar at UIC Barcelona and a counsellor at the Open Univer-
sity of Catalonia (UOC). Her research interests focus on criminological theories, forensic psychopatho-
logy and victimization. She is currently developing a doctoral thesis on the phenomenon of stalking
and cyberstalking, analyzing the prevalence, attitudes and processes of perpetration and victimization
in these types of behaviors.
José R. Agustina
jragustina@uic.es
José R. Agustina is an Associate Professor of Criminal Law at Universitat Abat Oliba CEU. Author of more
than 50 articles in indexed journals and four monographs. He currently directs the Actualidad Criminológi-
ca y Penal Collection at BdeF-Edisofer. His research interest focuses on cybercrime against people (sexting,
stalking and grooming) and cybervictimization in minors; crimes in the workplace, crime prevention strate-
gies and compliance; sexual and privacy crimes; theory of crime and criminological theories.
Fawn T. Ngo
fawnngo@sar.usf.edu
Fawn T. is an Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of South Florida. Her research
interests include criminological theory, interpersonal violence, cybercrime, and predictive analytic
applications in criminology and criminal justice. Her work has appeared in Justice Quarterly, Crime and
Delinquency, Journal of Criminal Justice, International Journal of Cyber Criminology, and Policing: An
International Journal of Police Strategies and Management.
