Thought for the day:
How does one avoid being a victim on a platter? The truth, as William tells it, is relatively simple. The “average” criminal — a term we use only to make allowances for the occasional psychopathic genius — is looking for easy money. Just like the rest of us, they want the largest possible payday with minimal effort invested. But what does easy money look like to a violent criminal actor? Well … what does an easy score look like to other predators?
Imagine lions hunting on the African plains. (A visual we poach directly from one of Aprill’s slides.) Do those lions waiting in ambush look for the strongest, fastest antelope on the Serengeti? Hardly. In fact, in a move that’s downright unsporting, they deliberately target slower antelope that may appear wounded, unaware, and struggling to keep up. Why? Because working hard is hard work, and why fight the king of the herd when you can just pluck one or two off the edges.
*Even when the predators have two legs instead of four, the thought process isn’t much different. In his presentation, one of the key factors that Aprill talks about is gait. There’s ample experimental research to support the idea that exactly how you put one foot in front of the other could make you look more or less appealing as a victim of violent crime. Specifically, the Grayson-Stein study conducted in the mid ’80s gives us a thought-provoking start point for understanding this concept. Grayson and Stein videotaped people walking around New York City. The people videotaped spanned all sizes, shapes, colors, and genders — every single one just going about their daily business with no coaching or instruction from the researchers. *
The footage was then shown to a sample of 53 prisoners in upstate New York, all of them incarcerated for violent crimes, who were asked to rate each person from “a very easy rip-off” to “too heavy — would avoid.” Most of the convicts made their decisions in seven seconds or less, with three quarters of the inmates rating the same people as “very easy” victims. Even more interesting, many of the cons had trouble articulating why they chose the people they did. The selectees just seemed to “look like good victims” – furthering the earlier parallel to other predators elsewhere in nature. After further analyzing the video, Grayson and Stein were able to distill down some of the key features of those people selected as victims:
**Their stride was either abnormally short or long. They tended to shuffle or drag their feet.
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Their speed was different than the surrounding crowd — typically slower, indicating a lack of purpose. Though an unnaturally quick pace might also indicate nervousness or uncertainty.
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Selected victims seemed to lack smoothness or fluidity in their movement. Jerky motions, swaying or shifting throughout their gait were common among those chosen by convicts.
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Overall demeanor or body set was also key. Those who slumped, looked down as they walked or seemed to avoid eye contact were selected as victims at a disproportionate rate.
