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In Progress: Cyberstalking Prevalence & the Universe of Cyberstalking Blogs
Some of the claims strain credibility. "Flash mobbing." "Happy slapping." "Brighting." And judging by all the blogs (and books), this rather unbelievable "workplace mobbing" thing appears to be all the rage in Europe. Having said that, I remember a day when I exercised too blind a skepticism for cries of "gang stalking" and even "cyberstalking" from individuals who come off at best as troubled and, in some cases, as paranoid / delusional. Now that gang cyberstalking has hit close to home, I understand the importance of maintaining a healthy balance of open-mindedness and skepticism. I understand that some victims are candidates for cyberstalking for reasons associated with the very way they present themselves. Cyberstalkers often claim to be offended by the rhetorical and promotional style of the individuals who would become their targets. The writing style appears too "arrogant," "disgruntled," "desperate," or "attention-seeking." Moreover, cyberstalkers know that individuals in a fragile psychological state can easily be pushed over the edge ... they know that when such individuals produce complaints -- or even Web sites -- about "cyberstalking" -- that it will be written in a way that will strain credibility ... in such a way that even those disposed to believe them will be so disgusted by the victim and the victim's plight as to keep their distance and withhold support.
Over the course of the past few months, I must have received dozens of e-mails drawing my attention to an anti-cyberstalking Web site. In most cases, very little can be known about the creators of the Web site, and even less about its veracity. Some of the blogs are tightly organized around a theme, while others are more scattered. Some blogs "faithful to the phenomenon" remain grounded in their accounts of the cyberstalking experience, while other blogs digress into manifestos about government agencies, conspiracy theories, and civil liberties.
And herein lies the challenge for any subject matter expert attempting to raise awareness of electronic harassment and community harassment (AKA "gang stalking"). The credibility of cyberstalking and gang stalking, has been significantly impaired by individuals whose cyberstalking and electronic harassment blogs are devoted to psychotronic mind control, epidemics of satanic ritual abuse among daycare providers, psychiatrist-induced multiple personality disorder, and government / corporate conspiracies. In short supply is the grounded, targeted research by credible sources like forensic psychologist LeRoy McFarlane & prison consultant Paul Bocij. Law enforcement officers, private investigators, and attorneys with intimate knowledge of cyberstalking are not inclined to develop cyberstalking blogs or publish case studies. One middle-of-the-road resource for cyberstalking experts would involve teasing out the relevant expertise on topics like bullying and psychiatric injury from Web sites bringing that knowledge to bear on more concrete and, in most cases, exotic events (e.g. mobbing).
"Workplace mobbing" is a visceral term conjuring images of the employee being cross-checked into the water cooler by Fred and Myrna from Accounting. And some evangelists of the phenomenon do foster this perception, while others describe the common practices we have come to accept under such terms as hazing, exclusion, and covert social aggression. The point is that any group of individuals can form a closed society, and once these individuals decide you are not a team player or the best fit for the team, they can behave like any fraternity or freemason organization, engaging in covert forms of social aggression that push you out of a job, graduate program or, for that matter, even a condominium. A blog devoted to Mobbing & Multistalker Harassment in Australia identified a number of demographic / personality characteristics associated with employees at risk for mobbing. And while I could not actually find a citation for research the blog administrator claims as the basis for the list, one can see that such characteristics share an alienation factor (i.e. High achievement orientation, enthusiasm, high integrity and ethical standards, promotion of human rights, whistleblowing, refusal or reluctance to slavishly comply with destructive group activities, family responsibilities, and religious and cultural requirements). I am currently pouring over the literature on group dynamics to put a scientific face on this discussion, and while I am optimistic about finding a "few good works," I am disappointed that the field of Social Psychology should allow the subject of race and racial prejudice to hijack the more traditional, generic discourse on groups. For a more productive discussion, I will burrow deep into the literature of Industrial-Organizational Psychology and, more to the point, the Organizational Behavior & Development programs housed in Business schools, in search of research that offers deeper insights into phenomena like groupthink and social identification.
As for the Web, I thought I'd approach the phenonenon of cyberstalking like an amateur astronomer, pointing my telescope toward the universe of cyberstalking Web sites. There are not yet as many cyberstalking Web sites as there are stars in the Heavens, but I suspect there are nearly as many sightings of cyberstalkers as UFOs. Until a formal epidemiological catchment survey can estimate the prevalance of cyberstalking claims within various subpopulations (e.g. users of news groups, message board participants, owners of critical or unconventional Web sites), we'll just have to make do with blogs like mine. And blogs like these ...
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