Introduction to this issue: International perspectives on stalking.

The criminalization of stalking has advanced to the international stage. Although primarily limited to the North American, European, and Australian continents, a pattern of behavior that was once looked upon by law enforcement with curiosity, indifference, and even disdain, has become a felony in many jurisdictions around the world. Legal definitions of the crime vary, but it generally contains three elements: more than one act of unwanted pursuit, a credible threat, and the induction of fear in the victim. Relatively early forensic definitions of stalking, ‘‘the willful, malicious, and repeated following and harassing of another that threatens his or her safety’’ (Meloy & Gothard, 1995, p. 258), and ‘‘a constellation of behaviours in which one individual inflicts on another repeated unwanted intrusions and communications’’ (Pathé & Mullen, 1997, p.12), are still useful points of departure for treatment, research and consultation. Denmark was the first country to have a stalking law, which originally appeared as a draft in their criminal code in 1912. It came into force in their new criminal code in 1933 (Section 265). The Danish term, forfølgelse, corresponds closely to the English term stalking, and refers to any act done repeatedly or over time that is apt to violate the peace of a person (Modena Group on Stalking, 2007). California was the first jurisdiction in North America to codify the crime in 1990, which ushered in a wave of legislation throughout the United States and Canada. Accompanying such new legal precedents has been the spread of stalking victim advocacy groups located throughout cyberspace and accessible on the internet; and the substantial growth and close co-operation of three professional organizations, the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals in the U.S. (ATAP), and their sister organizations in Canada (CATAP) and Europe (EATAP). In this issue of Behavioral Sciences and the Law, we have attempted to capture the international state of the science of stalking, with a particular focus on original research and thinking that advances our knowledge regarding the unwanted pursuit of both public and private figures.Most of our authors have alreadymade notable contributions to this specialized field of study, and herein extend their reach. Questions with which they grapple include violent and non-violent recidivism, female stalking, best treatment innovations and practices, risk assessment of both stalking and physical violence, the psychology of threats, same-gender stalking in Australia and Sweden, the evolution Behavioral Sciences and the Law Behav. Sci. Law (2011) Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/bsl.982