Generally speaking, effective resistance is probably the safest alternative, cooperation is moderately risky, and ineffective resistance is most dangerous.

It’s also important to distinguish the quality of the threat, i.e. a mugger and a rapist are different things, and the price of cooperation is obviously higher in the later case than in the former.

For example, if you are physically small and facing a mugger, a fistfight is not going to end well for you. However, if you point a gun at him, you are probably going to come out OK. Cooperation might end with you getting hit, and it might not. It’s a toss-up.

If you are physically small and facing a rapist, any level of resistance is probably beneficial.

An important bottom line here is that unless you are large and fast, the word ‘effective’ pretty much translates as ‘armed with a gun’. No other weapon comes close.

And here’s an important tip – few people who are forced into vehicles are ever seen alive again. Even getting shot is preferable to getting into a vehicle with a bad guy – the odds of survival are greater. This is another time when any level of resistance is good. There is simply nothing to lose.

The Gift of Fear by Gavin De Becker is an excellent book on this topic and well worth the money. He’s no fan of guns, but outside of that, I was very impressed with what he had to say.