How Does A Predator Groom A Victim?
When I think of predatory grooming practices I think of abusive disciplinary practices used to control children.
One of the ways a predator grooms a person is by establishing a trusting relationship with that person. This is how detectives extract confessions from people they depose during an investigation. The really great detectives have an uncanny way of making the person feel safe and secure by saying things like, “Look, I’m your friend. I just want to know what happened.” Important to this technique of grooming is tone of voice, body language, facial expression, and eye contract. All language must be in sync with the narrative you’re projecting to the target. The police also set-up traps called “honey traps” utilizing female operatives and “Romeos” utilizing good-looking young men. They use these undercover officers to establish warm and trusting relationships with targets they think may be guilty of a crime. The undercover officer then makes the target feel safe and secure, and when the target feels like he or she can trust the officer, he or she will confess, or at the very least, give critical evidence in helping solve the case. This is one of the best approaches because it’s like clandestine ninja kung-fu. By the time the target realizes what is happening, it is too late to do anything about it. A “fait accompli” if you will.
Predators sometimes use techniques of mind control known as psychological games and perspecticide and/or gaslight. Perspecticide is one of the most devastating psychological effects of abuse, and it is defined as the abuse related incapacity to “know what you already know.” Also known as gaslighting, abuse victims are made to self doubt, second guess, and learn not to trust their inner voice. Approaches like shaming, humiliation, degradation, isolation, active and passive threats, and intimidation can work to break down the will of the target and, thus, make the victim more susceptible to grooming. The technique may not always work and prove to be more of a deterrent to grooming than a strategy for success especially with highly intelligent, strong-willed, and nonaddicted individuals are the targets. I often wonder if this fact points to the reason why the individuals who claim they are targets (TIs) who are suffering electronic physical assaults, electronic harassment, and psychotronic torture are being targeted.
If the person knows the identity of their assailant(s) they can file for restraining orders through the courts or have the perpetrator arrested. Abusive parents and abusive operators will often resort to these methods when disciplining their children in order to groom their behavior to the parents' or guardians’ will.
Another approach to grooming a target is the implementation of drugs and alcohol. And, here again, I ponder the purpose of targeting people with electronic harassment, electronic physical assaults, and psychotronic torture. Any mind altering device that can be used to relax, lower the self-defense, and will of the target, or decrease inhibition can be used to groom a person towards a particular behavior. This is accomplished by sexual predators with drugs and alcohol over their targets. We see this behavior performed by young men on college and university campuses to groom female college students for sexual relationships.
