Although it would certainly be simpler if everything in the world was clear-cut rather than painted in shades of gray, it’s just not the way things are. The criminal mindset is significantly different than yours, and it can be helpful to your self-defense education for you to have a better understanding of it. Learning more about how criminals think can improve your situational awareness, fine-tune your reactions, and even give you an idea of what to consider avoiding.
“They are not you.” -Dr. William Aprill
The late Dr. William Aprill was a brilliant practicing licensed mental health professional, a clinical psychologist, with an impressive specialty in criminal behavior. Before he passed, Dr. Aprill ran weekly posts on his social media he called “They Are Not You Tuesday.” In those posts, as in his countless lectures, he discussed real-life examples demonstrating the way criminals think differently than the average person. These scenarios included men randomly attacking and murdering people on subways, gang members killing uninvolved citizens for no apparent reason, and more.
What it comes down to is that acknowledging criminals think differently is the first step to being a better defender. To you, right and wrong are clear. To criminals, the only rules that exist are the ones they make for themselves. Don’t understand how a person can murder someone in cold blood entirely unprovoked? Or how someone could attack a person whose worst offense was bumping into them on the street? That’s because your mind works differently.
As Dr. Aprill explained it, there is a different respect system in the criminal world. While this can and does vary culturally, there are general ways to explain it. For most people who live and breathe what we see as crime, respect is different. To you, respect has to do with basic politeness and adhering to society’s basic guidelines. That means being disrespectful usually looks like verbally and blatantly being rude and insulting to someone (among other things). But to a criminal, disrespect looks like this:
- Maintaining direct eye contact for too long.
- Wearing the wrong color in the wrong neighborhood.
- Refusing to make room for them to pass on the street or sidewalk.
- Cutting them off (an accident to you, inexcusable to them).
- Words perceived as an insult to their manhood, intelligence, or common sense.
- Bumping into them.
- Spilling their drink by jostling their arm or table.
- Raising your chin in their direction in greeting.
- And more…
“Welcome to Uptown.” -Unknown Assailant
In June 2020, a 27-year-old man was walking in the 900 block of West Montrose in Chicago. It was relatively early in the evening, and he was simply going about his business. A complete stranger approached the man, said “Welcome to Uptown,” and stabbed him. The only description given by law enforcement was that the attacker was “a Black male between 28- and 33-years-old who stands 5’10” to 6-feet tall. He was wearing silver headphones, a light blue polo shirt, and jeans.” Fortunately, his victim survived, but by all accounts, the criminal himself was never found.
What was the purpose? Reports make it clear this was a case of stranger-on-stranger crime. Nothing was taken, nothing was threatened. The contradiction of the greeting in conjunction with the stabbing was delivered, and the criminal went on. Why he did it is truly anyone’s guess, but odds are good it had to do with a need to establish dominance in the area. It could have been anything from an initiation to a case of being bored, and violent, on a weekend.
That’s the thing it’s vital to understand: Criminals don’t need a reason to do you harm, they simply do it. Maybe they need money for their next high or to buy a cheeseburger. Maybe one of their buddies dared them. Maybe they’re mentally ill. It isn’t the “why” you need to understand, it’s the reality that they will harm you for the sake of doing harm. For the joy of it, because violence is it’s own high to some people.
“What are you going to do, shoot me? -Cody Couch, Louisiana
Remember when you were a kid and someone dared you to do something? Maybe they even double-dog dared you. Odds are, you tried to do it. Well, the same is true of many people, whether they have a longtime criminal mindset or a problem with rage that turns violent. Back in 2018, a Louisiana man by the name of Cody Couch discovered it wasn’t a good idea to directly challenge someone who is aiming a gun at you.
The confrontation between Couch and his killer took place as part of a larger domestic dispute. Basically, Couch’s girlfriend sent him a picture of his belongings on fire in the yard, so he showed up. The woman who was convicted of the second-degree murder of Couch was a friend of his girlfriend. She was armed with a handgun chambered in 22 LR, and when Couch asked the fatal question, “What are you going to do, shoot me?” she did. This account wasn’t based only on witnesses but also on video. You see, there was a video being taken of most of the altercation.
That’s not the first time during an attack, be it a mugging or an active fight, that someone challenges their attacker and ends up getting exactly what they suggested. It’s not a great idea to goad someone aiming a gun or pointing a knife at you. This brushes up against the issue of respect again, because the attacker may feel their resolve or strength is being insulted or questioned.
Just Walk Away
What does all this mean? Can these encounters be avoided? Is there any way to identify a criminal from afar? In reality, the odds of your becoming the target of a violent crime are relatively slim, but those odds increase based on where you go and what you do. As always, it’s smart to resurrect instructor John Farnham’s rule of stupid places: Don’t go stupid places with stupid people and do stupid things. But will adhering to that stop you from coming face to face with a criminal whose mindset is totally different than the average person’s? No, there’s never a guarantee.
Part of the point is that you need to take to heart the fact that you simply can’t comprehend the way a criminal thinks. You’re not going to understand why someone would harm a stranger or murder a person for their watch, let alone for fun. Learn to exercise good situational awareness. Pay attention to your gut instincts. Be willing to walk away. What’s a little pride in exchange for walking away unharmed?
Criminals don’t share your thought processes, so stop assuming they should. Instead, remember you can’t be rational with an irrational person. Simply being aware of what is going on around you is often enough to avoid the worst.
What are your tips for avoiding criminals? Share your experiences in the comments section.
