2月14日^th is a day to reflect on love. It’s a day to show our significant others how much we care. And it is a day to look back and count just how many crimes were spurred by love, 激情, and obsession in the last calendar year.  Happy Valentine’s Day.

Anyone sitting down to watch Dateline knows that they are about to spend an hour waiting to find out that the guilty party is, 事实上, 配偶.  For some reason, we are more likely to hurt those we love.

“Love makes us do crazy things and lose our mind a little bit; and to some nothing in the world is as important as 激情. There are people who will sacrifice anything, including their morals, to experience that 激情,博士说。. Ronald Stolberg, one of Alliant’s leading experts on the psychology of crime.

Although the prevailing fear is that we might be attacked by a stranger, we are far more likely to be victims of someone we know.

“Especially here in Hollywood, we see lots of media coverage on celebrity stalkers, but the most dangerous kind of stalker is the one who knows, and was likely in a previous relationship with, 受害者,博士说。. Debra Glaser, Professor at the 加州 School of Forensic Studies at Alliant University, 洛杉矶 campus.

If there is one lesson to be learned from examining the statistics of crimes of 激情, it’s to sleep with one eye open, 即使在2月14日^th.

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Cielo Villasenor is Alliant’s Communications Manager and sleeps with her door locked.

For more information about the 加州 School of Forensic Studies visit http://snidqd.selenaumbrella.net/schools/csfs.