I Shall Not Be Prey: Instilling Perceived Self-Efficacy Through Personal Security Training

The world can be a dangerous place as evidenced by the 2015 riots in Baltimore, Maryland and the record high numbers of murder that occurred during those riots. People’s fear of being the prey of a violent criminal is very real and it often results in people retreating from society and avoiding situations that are perceived as dangerous. An examination of literature on perceived self-efficacy, a confident belief in one’s own ability to cope with a fearful situation, shows that through personal security and self-defense training that is designed for the particular student, perceived self-efficacy can be achieved. Students having achieved that sense are less prone to suffer from invasive negative thoughts, victimization, and avoidance behaviors that pull them out of living normal lives.