PBJ Learning Founders Provide Expert Advice on Grooming to Psychology Today

DEL VALLE, Texas - Feb. 17, 2022 - PRLog -- Plenty of jobs require training and specialized skills; being a human trafficker is no different. There are multiple types of trafficking types and situations, and people that are willing to travel the road of owning and abusing human slaves are experts in all of them.

"Human traffickers are predators. They're exactly like lions," says Billy Joe Cain, speaking to Psychology Today's Mackenzie Littledale. "This is not something they do in their spare time; this is their career 24 hours a day, and they are exceedingly good at this. They'll shop outside of a bus station, and anywhere people might be confused about where they are."

Cain explains that "Once a trafficker meets someone who seems vulnerable, they'll move into the 'interview' phase and screen for psychological pliability and manipulability. Then, their next phase is 'gaining trust.' That person will promise food, shelter, or convince targets that they'll be their boyfriend. I've talked to a lady who actually got married to the guy, was in the family, they went out of town and he sold her."

The criminal comes in like a father figure or a boyfriend, creating a dependency on them, or filling an unmet need.

From the article:

Mackenzie Littledale of Psychology Today: Billy Joe, the PBJ Learning website mentions that your own children were being groomed by a predator. How did you find out, and what were the signs that parents should be aware of?

BJC: I had known this guy for years and he was in my life; my kids treated him like an uncle. We were working on a project, and that's when this started happening. He'd call, and sometimes my kids would answer.

For me, those first phases were already done when this guy targeted my kids.

He'd promise them things, talk about sex a little more, promise good things, talk about sex again. That's one way the psychological stuff starts happening. The next phase is isolation. Take them away from their friends and family so they can really start manipulating. It's a mess.

Luckily for us, we caught it in time because the kids trusted they could talk to us about anything. We taught them that the only "secrets" are GOOD secrets, like what someone is being given for a birthday.

Read more https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/margin-mainstream...
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