Abstract

FERREIRA, Célia  and  MATOS, Marlene. Domestic violence and post-relationship stalking: Dynamics, coping and victim´s psycho-social impact. Psicologia [online]. 2013, vol.27, n.2, pp.81-106. ISSN 0874-2049.

This article reflects on a nationally insufficiently known reality - stalking after the breakup of an abusive relationship. Being so, the aim was to get to know the dynamics associated to this type of victimisation, the answers victims gave to it and the predictors of psycho-social maladjustment on the victim. The sample was constituted by 104 women who were victims of abuse during the ex-relationship and of stalking after they ended the relationship. Results have pointed out the prolonged nature of stalking and documented a continuum of actions referring to extremely different acts on what concerns their seriousness. The majority of the victims reported fear when dealing with stalking and admitted it had a negative influence on their lives. However, these women have assumed an active position when dealing with it and have developed different coping strategies. The mean frequency of stalking behaviours and unavoidable coping came out as predictors of psycho-social maladjustment. So, a greater investment on what concerns research and practices to fight this problem is needed.

Keywords : Stalking; Domestic violence; Breakup; Emotional Reactions; Coping; Psycho-social impact.

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