Robert Henley Woody - Risks of Harm from Psychopathic Individuals

SpringerBriefs in Psychology showcase emerging theory, empirical research, and practical application in a wide variety of topics in psychology and related fields. Briefs are characterized by fast, global electronic dissemination, standard publishing contracts, standardized manuscript preparation and formatting guidelines, and expedited production schedules.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10143

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG

The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

With a somewhat busy street just to her left and greenery to her right, she did her morning jog in the city park, enjoying the music that was playing in her earphones. That was the last thing that she remembered until she awakened in the hospital.

She was a highly trained law professional and demonstrated her confidence in a courtroom routinely. Jogging early in the morning in that particular location did not raise any safety concerns. However, her confidence was inadequate protection against the male who jumped out of the bushes that she had just passed, hit her on the head with some object, started sexually assaulting her but stopped when he apparently became fearful of detection by a passing motorist. Before passing out, she realized that he was unknown to her.

The attacker pushed her unconscious body into the adjacent shallow stream. Thankfully her face was up, which allowed her to breathe. She healed physically, but the traumatic effects continue for her and her family.

Too often, most people think things like: This is a safe area. I can defend myself. If I were attacked, someone would stop their car and come to my aid. It cant happen to me. In this day and age, all of those notions of personal security are potentially false.

When I was a teenager, several youths started yelling obscenities from across the street, basically voicing threats. The fellow with whom I was walking (to a concert in a downtown area) said foolishly I dont believe in fisticuffs or weapons. If those guys tried to start a fight, I bet I could talk them out of it.

No matter where it might be, constant vigilance and competency for self-protection are essential when one is out and about. For example, many people believe that a university campus is commonly a safe location, but contemporary societal conditions justify a full-service law enforcement agency on every campus.

The information that I provide herein is intended for everyone. In this day and age, regrettably we all encounter the effects of the psychopathology possessed by other people. Therefore, where there is a friend, co-worker/employee, acquaintance, or family member with psychopathic characteristics, the information here will be helpful for managing the communications and contacts with them. For professionals in the human services (e.g., mental health practitioners, healthcare providers, and educators), this information will build knowledge and skills that can be extended to clients, patients, and others.

The following terms provide (in a purposeful lexical sequence) the foundation for the contents and are quoted from: VandenBos, G. R. (2015). APA dictionary of psychology (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. The selection is intended to further the concept of maintaining safety for self, others, rights, or objects.

AVOIDANCE: The practice or an instance of keeping away from particular situations, individuals, or things because of either (a) the anticipated negative or consequence of such an encounter or (b) anxious or painful feelings associated with them. (p. 100101).

AVOIDANCE BEHAVIOR: any act or series of actions that enables an individual to avoid or anticipate unpleasant or painful situations, stimuli, or events including conditioned aversive stimuli. (p. 101)

VICTIM: an individual who is the target of another persons violent, discriminatory, harassing, or assaultive behaviors. (p. 1138)

ASSAULT: a violent attack on an individual and illegal conduct occurring when an individual either attempts to injure another person or threatens to do so and has capacity to carry out the threat. (p. 80)

HARM REDUCTION: an approach designed to reduce the adverse effects of risky behaviors (e.g., alcohol use, drug use, indiscriminate sexual activity), rather than to eliminate the behaviors altogether. (p. 483)

SAFETY PSYCHOLOGY: a subdiscipline of applied psychology involving the study of behavioral aspects of hazardous situations in human-environmental systems.... (p. 931)