Try to remember an acquaintance who’s been assaulted on more than one occasion. Now, try to remember someone else who has never been stripped of his belongings on the street. Remember how they look when they walk, how they differ? Who looks more confident in their walk? Who looks more powerful and who looks weaker?

Theft, aggression… and how to prevent them with imposing body language

The importance of our body language when communicating is not unknown to us at present, since day by day, various theories about it are more and more widely accepted by the scientific community. Such as the fact that approximately 80% of our communication takes place through our gestures and expressions.

It is also through the latter that we can more easily empathize and manifest to others our emotions and feelings. But just as we can convey a positive mood, we can also project: insecurity, fear, vulnerability and helplessness through our body language . Today we will explain how this has a powerful influence on the process of victimization and victimodynamics (that is to say, how we become victims of a crime or of some incident), especially if the last four characteristics mentioned above are projected. In addition to providing you with some tips to improve your body language

Modern interest in the victim and the experiment

From Benjamin Mendelsson’s early work on the process of how one becomes a victim of an incident, attack or crime in the 1960s, victimology (the discipline that studies victims) quickly became the focus of interest for social sciences such as criminology, law and, of course, psychology.

This interest in how people go from being mere bystanders to victims of crime led researchers Betty Grayson and Morris Stein to propose a simple experiment in the 1980s that produced a series of very particular results. The dynamic that Grayson and Stein carried out was the following: in a prison, a group of inmates (including people who had robbed, raped and even killed) were shown, individually, a series of videos whose content was simply that of some passers-by walking normally on a New York street.

The only thing the prisoners had to indicate to the investigators was which people among all those who were walking on the street they would choose as possible victims . The investigators estimated that the time in which they decided on the possible victim was only seven seconds. When indicating their choices, the results were somewhat disconcerting since the choice made by each prisoner was consistent, i.e., despite the fact that each volunteer had seen the video separately, the prisoners repeatedly chose the same victims.

Prisoners choose their victims because of their (bad) body language

Another equally curious fact was that the selection of each one did not depend on race, age, size or physical constitution, since some women whose constitution seemed fragile went unnoticed in contrast to some tall and relatively stocky men who were chosen.

When the convicts were asked why they made such a choice, they replied that they did not know exactly why, they simply said that they looked at themselves as easy targets . And since none of the above criteria was a reason to choose a person, what was it that determined whether or not a person became aggrieved? The researchers conducted a much more comprehensive analysis, arriving at the following results.

Our body language indicates whether we are vulnerable or strong

It seems that a large part of the predator / prisoner selection process is unconscious and this is due to the fact that the prisoners were more oriented towards what the body language of the possible victims expressed.

Characteristics of vulnerable body language

The researchers found that the group of “victims” chosen in the video shared a number of characteristics with each other regarding their body language, highlighting the following points.

1. Step and rhythm

The “strides” that each victim made were somewhat exaggerated, and could be abnormally long or extremely short. A sign of insecurity or distress. On the other hand, those who were not selected registered normal “strides” in their walk. With respect to the fluidity of the walk, natural selection taught predators to always look for the slowest in the herd . As a general rule, a slow pace in the walk, lacking in intention or purpose, projects insecurity, fear and helplessness.

2. Discontent and indecision

Looking around as if lost, hesitant glances and returning along the same road already travelled were common characteristics among some of the selected victims. An unsafe person in his walk is, for the offenders, easier to subdue . In the same way, if you stop to talk to strangers and ask for directions, the offenders will think that you are a tourist or that you are in an unfamiliar neighbourhood, which will make you much more vulnerable.

3.Luxury items

Criminologists point out that criminals live under a distorted scheme of values in which society is seen as an unjust system in which only a few can enjoy privileges and luxuries, while also experiencing anger against this society. Therefore, publicly demonstrating your possessions (for example, expensive watches, rings, gold bracelets, expensive cell phones, etc.) often rekindles this rage . Many people who showed various goods in the video were often chosen as victims.

4.Torso and gaze

Another thing that the people chosen in the video by the inmates had in common was the position of the torso and the direction of the gaze. Frequently, people who walked with their shoulders down and inwards, hunched over and looking down at the floor, distracted or lost, were chosen. The above gestures are unmistakable signs of defenselessness . They strongly project weakness.

5.Totality

Last but not least, it stood out among the chosen victims that their gestures lacked symmetry and fullness in their movements . Their limbs moved as if they were separated or independent from the rest of their body. On the other hand, the “non-victims” enjoyed balance in relation to their movements.

How does this theory apply to crime prevention?

As we emphasized earlier, much of the victim selection process is done unconsciously by the offenders. Perhaps it is a characteristic inherited through millions of years of evolution to find at a glance the weakest in the herd. Just like a wild animal, the human predator wants to make the minimum effort when hunting, does not want a difficult and dangerous job , he will look for the one who looks the weakest, the most submissive and who probably does not fight.

Several practical tips to improve body language

Our body language is largely unconscious, so modifying it is extremely difficult, but not impossible. Some signs and attitudes can help us to emit a more powerful and positive body language, which will make us less vulnerable to crime . Below we make the following recommendations.

  • Develop your awareness skills : there are various ways to become more aware of your environment, from becoming familiar with the routes you take every day on your way home, the peak hours when people move around the most, and those who hang out in your neighbourhood, to practising yoga, meditation or a martial art (we’ll talk about this later).
  • Exercise: Keeping fit not only impacts your ability to physically repel aggression but also causes your body to release dopamine and endorphins that make you feel better about yourself, which will make you develop more self-confidence and increase your self-esteem which will impact your body language positively.
  • Stay informed : it is scientifically proven that knowledge and information reduce our fear and increase our confidence, let us remember that this is a quality that was expressed in the body language of those who were not victims. Reading articles about how to avoid being a victim, self-defense and newspapers about what happens in your city can help you to be informed.
  • Practice self-defense : not to exercise it when an attacker asks you for your belongings, since in this case, the most prudent thing will always be to avoid any confrontation, but because it is demonstrated that taking a self-defense course strongly affects our confidence in the face of a dangerous situation, this confidence has a very positive effect on our body language and increases your awareness of your surroundings. Therefore, it reduces the probability of looking like a potential victim.

More tips to improve body language

As you gain confidence and feel better about yourself, you are less likely to be a victim of crime, since your body language will express well-being, power, and confidence. As you gradually change your body language, you may want to add the following gestures that can keep you from becoming a victim:

  • Always walk with your chin up , parallel to the horizon keeping a steady and secure gaze, when someone sees you keep your gaze, but don’t be defiant (many times this tactic discourages criminals from picking on you).
  • Raise your shoulders and keep them straight , stick out your chest a bit, this is a sign of power.
  • Walks at a steady, normal pace . Neither too fast nor too slow. Neither too long nor too short. Try to make them harmonious and not “robotic”.
  • Maintain harmony in relation to your steps , your arms and your gestures.
  • If you don’t remember any street or doubt about your way , go to a cafe or shop to ask for directions. Avoid asking strangers for help and talking to them.
  • Move your arms in a natural and balanced way in relation to your steps.
  • Don’t walk around with flashy jewelry . Avoid talking on your mobile phone, listening to music and looking distracted.

Bibliographic references:

  • Grayson, B. and Stein, M. I. (1981), Attracting Assault: Victims’Nonverbal Cues. Journal of Communication, 31: 68-75. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.1981.tb01206.