Defense Mechanisms Associated with Stalking Related Violence

Defense mechanisms are the unconscious processes that individuals use to protect themselves from harsh or unpleasant realities. Within the stalking literature little has been mentioned of the defense mechanism profiles of stalkers, particularly those with tendencies toward violent acting out. The two defense mechanisms mentioned most often were Denial and Projection. Denial was associated with stalking and Projection was associated with interpersonal violence.;Based on the literature, it was hypothesized that the use of Denial and Projection would be high with respect to other defense mechanism usage within the sample of participants who endorsed both stalking and domestic violence behaviors. It was also hypothesized that the participants would have higher usage of Denial and Projection than participants who endorsed exclusive stalking or domestic violence behaviors or denied any history of both behaviors. Participants were collected from Batterer's Intervention Program groups and a substance abuse treatment population. Stalking behaviors were assessed using the Stalking Behavior Inventory; domestic violence behaviors were assessed using the Conflict Tactics Scale-2; and defense mechanisms were assessed using the Life Style Index.;Results revealed that although Projection was endorsed at a significantly higher rate than most other defense mechanisms, Denial was not particularly prevalent. It was also revealed that there were no significant interaction effects between stalking and domestic violence. However, within exclusive stalking and domestic violence behaviors, Denial was used significantly less by individuals endorsing domestic violence behaviors than those who did not and Projection was used significantly more by individuals endorsing stalking behaviors.