Stalkers and intelligence: implications for treatment

The role of psychiatric services in assessing and treating stalkers is increasingly apparent from the high prevalence of stalking and of mental disorder amongst perpetrators. Treatment involves both pharmacotherapy and, crucially, a range of psychological interventions. Design of treatment programmes must necessarily reflect the cognitive abilities of the patients. The psychiatric literature on stalking assumes that stalkers are of above-average intelligence, despite there being no systematic study to support this. We undertook prospective psychiatric evaluation of 147 stalkers referred to a specialist clinic, with the administration of Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI), and compared them with general population norms and an offender sample. Mean stalker intelligent quotient (IQ) was 91.59 (SD 16.2). Only 36% had completed high school. Verbal IQ (VIQ) was significantly lower than performance IQ (PIQ) (p.001). Previous assumptions about intelligence in stalking appear simplistic and misleading. The verbal/performance deficit is important with regard to the design and delivery of treatment interventions.