Fear for the stalking victim's own safety or the safety of people close to them is of primary research interest due to the fact that fear is often required as a necessary condition for repetitive intrusive behavior to be defined as stalking. This study examines factors that increase levels of fear in stalking victims and analyzes their coping strategies, making use of data from a victimization survey among citizens of the Czech Republic (N = 2,503). Overall, 147 stalking victims were identified in the sample. Results show that female victims, those stalked by male offenders, and victims pursued over a long period of time, are most fearful. Higher levels of fear are elicited by strangers as opposed to partners or acquaintances. Among stalking practices, only direct aggression is significantly associated with fear, whereas monitoring the victim (comprising typical stalking behavior such as following the victim) increases the perception of the seriousness of stalking, but does not influence the victim's fear. In addition, three behavioral coping strategies have been identified: proactive behavior (47% of victims), avoidance (30%), and passivity (23%). The examination of the association between these coping strategies and victims' fear reveals that female victims, whose behavior is proactive, express higher levels of fear than male victims and than those choosing avoidance or passivity strategies. Overall, the study confirms gender differences in both the level of fear and coping strategies, and lends further support to appeals for eliminating the fear requirement from the stalking definition.

In Europe use of alcohol by adolescents is a large and increasing problem. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of family factors such as structure, social control, affluence, and negative life events on adolescents' risky alcohol use. Data on alcohol use and family factors were obtained from the International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD-2). Using multilevel analysis, it was found that overall, complete family and high social control by parents were lowering the intense alcohol use whereas negative life events in the family and high family affluence were increasing youngsters' intense alcohol use. Differences between regions of Europe were present for all family factors except affluence. Namely, in Northern Europe the impact of family structure and social control on intense alcohol use was stronger than that in other regions (e.g., Western Europe, Mediterranean, and Postsocialist countries). Also, in Northern Europe where the proportion of adolescents who have not experienced negative life events is the highest, the impact of negative life events on intense alcohol use was stronger; that is, negative life events increased the alcohol use. We conclude that family plays a significant role in adolescents' risky alcohol use.

BackgroundIntimate partner violence (IPV) is a complex phenomenon and some research suggests that there are qualitatively distinct IPV types. However, little is known about the risk factors associated with different IPV types.MethodsData from Violence against women: an European Union (EU)-wide survey, conducted by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights was used. Latent class analysis (LCA) was employed to identify distinct IPV patterns based on the intensity of eight forms of violence by current partners (n=30 675). Multilevel multinomial logistic regression was used to examine individual and country-level risk factors associated with the outcome IPV patterns.ResultsA five-class solution was selected based on the LCA results. Two classes encompassed severe coercive IPV: the intimate terrorism class (1.5%) also comprised extensive physical violence whereas the high coercive control class (2.0%) did not. The partner’s alcohol abuse, violent behaviour outside the relationship and the woman’s abuse in childhood were the main individual factors positively associated with IPV. The country’s gender equality levels were negatively associated with the odds of experiencing intimate terrorism (adjusted OR, aOR 0.35, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.56) and high coercive control (aOR 0.63, 95% CI 0.47 to 0.85) versus no IPV. Although the effects of most individual risk factors were found universally for all IPV patterns, the strongest associations were typically revealed for the intimate terrorism pattern.ConclusionThe results support the importance of coercive control as a factor differentiating between IPV types and also highlight the need to consider IPV typologies in research. Policy implications of the findings are discussed.

The aim of this study is to broaden the scope of knowledge on fear of crime by examining if Ferraro’s risk interpretation model of fear of crime also holds true for the adolescent population. Using data on approximately 1500 Czech students in middle and grammar school, we test three different models. First, the classic model of fear of crime, applied originally to adults, is estimated. Second, the role of perceived school disorganization is examined, taking into account that adolescents spend a substantial part of the day at school. Finally, we propose an extension of Ferraro’s model by considering parental supervision as a factor influencing adolescent fear of crime through risk perception and avoidance behaviour. The results indicate that Ferraro’s original model of fear of crime can be appropriately applied to both adults and adolescents. Nevertheless, adolescent risk perception, which remains the most influential determinant of individual fear, seems to be influenced by stimuli stemming from the school rather than the neighbourhood environment. Furthermore, the relationship between parental supervision and fear of crime is mediated by avoidance behaviour, while no direct effect of parental supervision on risk perception and fear of crime was found in the data.

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