Why this site exists
Public talk about predators runs on two fuels: fear and fiction. The stranger in the dark, the genius profiler, the monster who can be spotted by the eyes. The research says something different, and more useful.
A Predatory Mind is criminology written for people who want to understand how harm actually happens: how offenders gain access and trust, how they read targets, how a predatory act differs from a reactive one, and how the systems built to catch offenders can lock on to the wrong person. It is written from a criminologist's point of view: interested in mechanism and in how systems work, not in spectacle.
The rules
- Sources first. Every factual claim traces to a peer-reviewed study, a scholarly book, an official inquiry or a court record. The full list, and what each source is used for, is on the Sources page.
- APA 7th. Citations in the text, a reference list under every article, DOIs where they exist.
- Documented cases only. Each article opens on an event from the public record. Nothing is invented: no composite victims, no imagined dialogue, no sensory detail the record does not hold.
- No gore. The harm is stated plainly. It is never described for effect.
- No blame on victims. Research on how offenders select targets is research about offenders.
- Private people stay private. We write about published research and cases already examined in courts and inquiries.
Corrections
If a claim here does not match its source, that is an error and it will be fixed. Each article shows the date its sources were last checked.
If you need help
This site is not a crisis service. If you or a child is in danger, call your local emergency number (000 in Australia). In Australia, 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) supports people affected by sexual, domestic and family violence.