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The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence | 
 enlarge | Author: Gavin De Becker
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Category: Book
List Price: $22.95
Buy Used: $3.93
You Save: $19.02 (83%)
New (14) Used (28) Collectible (2) from $3.93
Avg. Customer Rating:  305 reviews
Sales Rank: 37597
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 334
ASIN: B00007MF53
Publication Date: June 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Each hour, 75 women are raped in the United States, and every few seconds, a woman is beaten. Each day, 400 Americans suffer shooting injuries, and another 1,100 face criminals armed with guns. Author Gavin de Becker says victims of violent behavior usually feel a sense of fear before any threat or violence takes place. They may distrust the fear, or it may impel them to some action that saves their lives. A leading expert on predicting violent behavior, de Becker believes we can all learn to recognize these signals of the "universal code of violence," and use them as tools to help us survive. The book teaches how to identify the warning signals of a potential attacker and recommends strategies for dealing with the problem before it becomes life threatening. The case studies are gripping and suspenseful, and include tactics for dealing with similar situations. People don't just "snap" and become violent, says de Becker, whose clients include federal government agencies, celebrities, police departments, and shelters for battered women. "There is a process as observable, and often as predictable, as water coming to a boil." Learning to predict violence is the cornerstone to preventing it. De Becker is a master of the psychology of violence, and his advice may save your life. --Joan Price
Product Description
A stranger in a deserted parking lot offers to help carry a woman's groceries. Is he a good Samaritan or is he after something else? A fired employee says "You'll be sorry." Will he return with a gun? After their first date, a man tells a woman it is their "destiny" to be married. What will he do when she won't see him again? A mother has an uneasy feeling about the nice babysitter she's just hired. Should she not go to work today? These days, no one in America feels immune to violence. But now, in this extraordinary groundbreaking book, the nation's leading expert on predicting violent behavior unlocks the puzzle of human violence and shows that, like every creature on earth, we have within us the ability to predict the harm others might do us and get out of its way. Contrary to popular myth, human violence almost always has a discernible motive and is preceded by clear warning signs. Through dozens of compelling examples from his own career, Gavin de Becker teaches us how to read the signs, using our most basic but often most discounted survival skill - our intuition. The Gift of Fear is a remarkable, unique combination of practical guidance on leading a safer life and profound insight into human behavior.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 300 more reviews...
 should be required reading in high school November 16, 2008
Do your teenager a great service by giving her this book. Pass it along to every woman in your life.
A great book for all! October 24, 2008
Gavin De Becker has written a seriously important book for all people, especially women, to read.
Although its content is that of a text book, which should be mandatory reading in all schools, it also written in an engaging style which makes it really easy to read. It's a page-turner.
Ultimately, its message is that people should listen to the inner voice they are born with when encountering all situations and people they encounter throughout their lives. De Becker goes a step further by giving advice as to how to deal with the intricacies of various life situations.
The Gift of Fear Is the Gift of Awareness October 9, 2008
Our intuition has been honed through a million years of awareness - from mastodons to murderers. As `sophisticated human beings', we have almost been trained to ignore those signals about danger - the hairs on the back of our neck, the tingling in our fingers, that shortness of breath. This sense of fear is our first signal that all is not right with our world. But we need to acknowledge and pay attention to these physical indications and bring them into our conscious awareness. The author has significant experience in security work, particularly in predicting violent behavior. If we can recognize this `code of violence, then we might be able to prevent it from happening to us. The books is a great `How To" in a unique field of violence prediction and avoidance. deBecker's clients include federal agencies, judges, police and more. He believes that violence is as gradual as boiling water - you just have to know what to do to turn down the heat.
Highly Recommended! September 30, 2008
This book is a must have for your daughters, mothers, gf's, and anyone you want kept safe!
Listening to your inner voice. September 28, 2008
Every human being has the ability to sense fear exactly in the same way as the other animals. We have civilized ourselves to the point of negating that ability and it has cost many lives in the process. Gavin de Becker has provided us with an awareness of the necessity to re-awaken the "gift". This book should be THE "gift" of choice to all those we love and seek to protect. I should know because it happened to me. I did not know why I was afraid of a man who was coming up my walk and whom I could see through a window that ran alongside my front door. He was "ordinary" looking but I asked the friend, with whom I was having a telephone conversation at the time, to stay on the line while I went to the door. I was tense and apprehensive. The man was asking for directions and I answered through the closed door. Something in his manner and words was amiss. He became very insistent that I open the door but I would not give in. Finally he went away, visibly angry with me, and tried the same tactic at the home of a neighbour around the bend. She had a chain installed on her door and when she refused to open the door to him, he drew a knife and tried to break the chain. My neighbour managed to slam the door shut and called the police. I repeat, he look ordinary, was casually and appropriately dressed, was slight of stature, but sent out a message that my inner voice picked up and transmitted to me as saying, "something is not right about that guy". This did not happen in the inner city; it was in a quiet suburban neighbourhood, in broad daylight, and took place some years ago when this sort of incident was relatively rare. I listened; I was unharmed; and I'm here to tell you how important that awareness was and is.
The copy of this book was purchased and sent to my daughter and my granddaughter so that they would develop a heightened sensitivity and perception of fear when such a signal presents itself.
Lila Pascal
Montreal, QC Canada
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