Validation of the Stalking Assessment and Management Checklist (SAM) in Law Enforcement: A Prospective Study of 153 Cases of Stalking in Two Swedish Police Counties
| Author | Susanne Strand,Henrik Belfrage |
| Published date | 01 March 2009 |
| Date | 01 March 2009 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1350/ijps.2009.11.1.110 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Validation of the Stalking Assessment and
Management checklist (SAM) in law
enforcement: a prospective study of 153
cases of stalking in two Swedish police
counties
Henrik Belfrage†and Susanne Strand
†(Corresponding author) Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall Forensic Psychiatric Hospital,
Box 880, 851 24 Sundsvall, Sweden. Tel: +46 70 30 200 29; email:
henrik.belfrage@miun.se (Both authors may be contacted through this address)
Received 20 November 2007; accepted 22 May 2008
Keywords: stalking, SAM checklist, policing Sweden, crime victims,
victimology
Henrik Belfrage
is Professor of Applied Crim-
inology at Mid Sweden University and Director
of Research at Sundsvall Forensic Psychiatric
Hospital.
Susanne Strand
, PhD is Senior Lecturer in
Criminology at Mid Sweden University.
A
BSTRACT
The overall aim of this study was to test the
validity and the practical usefulness of the Stalk-
ing Assessment and Management checklist
(SAM) within the police. Police officers in two
police counties in Sweden were trained in using
the Stalking Assessment and Management check-
list (Kropp, Hart, & Lyon, 2007) in real-life
cases of reported stalking during the period May
2005 to December 2006 (N= 230). Results
showed that the SAM was easy to code for the
police, since there were very few cases of missing
information coded by the police. Most import-
antly, the validity of the SAM was found to be
very strong in terms of a strong correlation
between factors included in the SAM and the
degree of risk assessed by the police officers. The
more SAM risk factors coded by the police officers
concerning the alleged perpetrators, the higher the
risk assessed for repeated stalking and violence.
The same results were found concerning victim
vulnerability factors. Those victims that were
assessed to be at higher risk than others generally
had more of the SAM victim vulnerability factors.
We conclude that the SAM seems to be a valid
and useful tool for use by law enforcement
professionals in cases of alleged stalking.
INTRODUCTION
Stalking is an old problem but, in most
jurisdictions, a relatively new criminal
offence. The term refers to repeatedly and
unwantedly communicating with, follow-
ing, or approaching other people. It is
sometimes referred to as obsessional follow-
ing or harassment. When the contact
between stalker and victims is threatening in
nature — either explicitly or implicitly
(because they are unwanted and non-
consensual) — it may cause victims to fear
for their safety. Deliberately or recklessly
causing fear in others is what makes stalking
a crime, and specifically a violent crime.
Sweden does not yet have any special
laws against stalking, but a government
International Journal of Police Science & Management Volume 11 Number 1
International Journal of Police
Science and Management,
Vol. 11 No. 1, 2009, pp. 67–76.
DOI: 10.1350/ijps.2009.11.1.110
Page 67
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