The way you move either attracts violent predators or deselects you from violent predator attention
BY PGF
1 year, 11 months ago
The below also applies to four-legged predators. Seems like common sense; head up, pay attention, move with purpose, and try not to look like such a sissy: i.e., situational awareness.
In 1981, a study was conducted which tested [Ted] Bundy’s claim that victims display characteristic body language, specifically in their walking style (Grayson & Stein, 1981). Essentially, inmates who were convicted of violent offences and incarcerated in Ontario Canada, were asked to look at video of people walking. Individuals scoring higher on the interpersonal/affective aspects of psychopathy (Factor 1) were more accurate at judging victim vulnerability simply from viewing targets walking than a sampling of people drawn from the general public. To put psychopathy in perspective, a 1992 FBI study found that 44 percent of offenders who killed a police officer were psychopaths. Psychopaths compose 15% to 25% of a typical prison population and are responsible for 50% of violent crime.
PSYCHOPATHS EVALUATE VICTIM POTENTIAL BY ANALYZING GAIT
This study has been repeated numerous times with varying methodologies and these studies have all come to a similar conclusion. Violent individuals evaluate victims by the way they move, specifically by the way they walk.
So, specifically what are violent predators looking for? Submissiveness. A criminal wants an easy day. They want to get paid and they don’t want to get hurt or caught. “Paid” could mean many things from your cell phone to your injury or death.
Let’s focus on the fact criminals don’t want to get caught or hurt. If a criminal got hurt every time they “worked” they would have a pretty short criminal run. They want an easy score. They use surprise, violence of action, multiples, and weapons to overwhelm their victim. Criminals don’t want a fight, so they look for victims who they evaluate to as “soft” targets.
Soft targets display vulnerable body language: head down, smaller or constricted movement of limbs, jerky or uncoordinated movement, hunched shoulders, and shorter strides are all body language which indicates submissiveness.
People who display vulnerable body language were more likely to have been victimized in the past. Lack of confidence is displayed in body language. Victims are targeted due to perceived lack of confidence. Victimization causes lack of confidence and that lack of confidence is displayed in the past victims movement. This becomes a horrible cycle causing innocents to be re-victimized due to
Task fixation, such as texting or talking on a cell phone, mimic the body language of submissiveness, thus attracting violent predator attention. Victims of prior abuse also may display submissive body language due to lack of confidence.
A simple but temporary fix to attracting predators attention would be to avoid task fixation in public areas. Specifically, areas which crimes are more likely to happen. Stay off of cell phones, don’t listen to music, and don’t read when moving through a potentially dangerous area.
Next, get training and carry pressure tested equipment. There are only two things you bring to a conflict, your tools (weapons, lights, medical gear and the method of carry) and your training. You do not pick the time, place, or nature of the conflict, you could only control your software and your hardware!
Having pressure tested hardware and appropriate training to deal with violent encounters will give you confidence. Confidence and training will show in your gate, making you less likely to be targeted by a violent criminal predator.
|
|
On November 22, 2022 at 11:54 pm, TheAlaskan said:
Act like prey and you will be hunted.
In Alaska, such things are obvious.
On November 23, 2022 at 7:12 am, Joe Blow said:
So very true.
I can split a Christmas shopping mall walkway with my stomping style and a scowl, or slip between the masses like a snake in the river.
I have seen groups of city youth eyeballing me (tall, I stand out..) They are hunters, always on the hunt. Sheep do not understand, they simply cannot see the paradigm where they are at risk, because they do not hunt. ‘Society’ has muted the need for our animal instincts, and created a whole swath of problems, that are starting to swing the other way… notice the hunter types in our group (Scotch-Irish, heritage Americans, etc.) want, welcome, and encourage the wilding, self reliance and independence. “The Kings People”, pro-english colonists, blue-city dwellers today, fear the wilding, recoil at the thought of self reliance and independence, and yearn for someone to tell them what to do, how to do it, and how to think…. just like 270 years ago!
Nothing in human history is new. Nothing. Study it. Read about it. Learn from it. You can see the future, by looking into the past!
On November 23, 2022 at 11:51 am, Bobby said:
This was something that William April used to touch on in his Violent Criminal Actors lectures
On November 23, 2022 at 11:17 pm, Dan said:
Predators tend to “interview” potential victims before acting to see if the risk benefit ratio is acceptable. Fail this process and you will be attacked. Frequently that process does not include words…just eyeballs.
On November 25, 2022 at 2:57 am, Georgiaboy61 said:
Many crime victims are in the wrong place at the wrong time, doing something that they should not be doing. In other words, if you are a suburbanite looking to score some weed at 1AM on the wrong side of town, you are placing yourself in danger, more than likely. If you look like food, you’ll be eaten.
But situational awareness is paramount. Head up, eyes scanning the environment, shoulders back and square, don’t slump over or look in any way impaired or stoned or drunk. Act confident and like you know where you are going.
Most street thugs are opportunists, and don’t want an opponent, but a victim. There is also a sub-group of criminals who actually seek out violence and situations in which to be aggressive. The difference between a bugler – who wants to burglarize your home or car without you being there – and an armed robber, who is fine and even welcomes the presence of victims at the crime scene.
Also be aware that, especially in rough big-city neighborhoods, thugs often operate in teams, 2-3 men or more, depending on the crime being committed. In the case of trying to ‘roll’ (mug) someone, there’s usually one or two guys who engage the target by talking to them or distracting them somehow, while the other one or two ambushes the intended victim from his/her blind side. Some teams of rapists work in the same manner.
Flash mobs are now a thing in big urban shopping districts. In Chicago, it was along the “Magnificent Mile” shopping district, much of which is closed to auto traffic. Teams of a dozen or more urban youths – often black street gangs and the like – coordinating their actions via cell phones, descend en-mass upon a store to be hit, and within no more than a minute or two, rush in and grab what they want and then run away before authorities can apprehend them. They wear masks so that CC video cameras can’t see their faces, and some of the smart ones have RFID transmission blockers (cases, etc.) to prevent their cell phones from being tracked.
Flash mobs hit state and county fairs in the same manner, as well as concerts and other mass events.
These new realities are one thing driving the surge in firearms purchases in historically-anti-gun areas, as well as the spike in CCW permit applications.
It goes without saying that any society which tolerates such de facto low-level warfare or terrorism is in serious trouble, or is headed toward it rapidly. The line between civilization and barbarism is thin, very thin indeed.