How Can We Protect Ourselves from Predators?

Review of Predators, Pedophiles, Rapists & Other Sex Offenders: Who They Are, How They Operate, And How We Can Protect Ourselves And Our Children by Anna Salter, Ph.D

Dr. Salter received a Master’s degree in Child Study and a Ph.D in Psychology and Public Practice, and she has been building her expertise in child abuse since the 1970s.  She makes her position clear in the: “Victims were the result, not the cause, of the problem.”  What, if anything, can be done about offenders?  To determine an answer, Dr. Salter interviewed offenders and developed educational films from those sessions.

Denial is the refusal to acknowledge the existence or severity of unpleasant external realities or internal thoughts and feelings.  Society denies the cruelties of predators in our communities, while also denying the effects of sex abuse on victims.  The remedy for denial is information, and the knowledge of what it takes to keep our children safe.  Dr. Salter’s book offers the awareness needed to prevent the perpetuation of sex offenses in our neighborhoods.  The reader is not asked to understand predators but to identify them.

A premise of the book is in the phrases “No opportunity. No abuse.” Dr. Salters states that it is the parent’s responsibility to “avoid situations where sexual abuse is possible.”  She urges parents to supervise their children during community activities.  This presumes that a child has caring parents who take the time to determine what sexual abuse is and when abuse is possible.  It’s possible that a child does not have such a parent.  Therefore, it is up to the community to be wise about the manipulations of a predator.

Predators is divided into eleven chapters, with a full Index, Bibliography, and Notes that offer specific information to lay people and academics alike.  Delving into the predators’ consciousness and lack of conscience via Dr. Salters interviews is no easy task.  However, she urges us to know what they look for so that we can protect ourselves and our children.

Review completed by Lynn C. Tolson, author of Beyond the Tears: A True Survivor’s Story