Introduction

In the dynamic world of criminal justice, effective communication is the linchpin that holds the profession together. It is not an embellishment; it is a fundamental necessity. As criminal justice professionals, students will one day be tasked with maintaining law and order, upholding justice, and nurturing community relationships. Their ability to communicate effectively with diverse community members is pivotal. Now, more than ever, it is important that criminal justice professors foster, encourage, and improve communication skills among their students. The challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic have underscored the importance of this skill set, making it a cornerstone of their education.

The crucial role of communication skills for criminal justice professionals

Communication is the backbone of the criminal justice profession. It is the conduit through which trust, cooperation, and justice flow. Effective communication is indispensable at all stages of the criminal justice process, from maintaining public safety to ensuring due process and advocating for the rights of individuals. As Rosenbaum and Lawrence (2017) noted, officers have interactions with community members in numerous settings daily, including “walk-ins at the front desk, crime reports by telephone, traffic or street stops, emergency and non-emergency calls for service, investigative interviews, community meetings, and other exchanges” (p. 294). As such, criminal justice professionals must possess the skills necessary to effectively respond to individuals who have problems, and the way to be effective is to “develop and utilize observation and communication skills” (Miller et al. 2010, p 101). Possessing the skill to effectively communicate with a diverse array of individuals across various settings is imperative for criminal justice professionals. This proficiency not only enhances their ability to navigate diverse environments but also plays a pivotal role in facilitating de-escalation efforts.

The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing (2015) emphasized procedural justice and de-escalation skills during encounters with the public to decrease officers’ reliance on force and to begin rebuilding public trust. The term de-escalation generally refers to the act of moving from a state of high tension to a state of reduced tension (Richards, 2007). When police officers de-escalate a crisis, they conduct an intervention that will assist the individual in crisis in regaining control emotionally and resolve or reduce the crisis to a manageable state (Olivia et al. 2010). This response is like other law enforcement strategies that require communication and negotiation skills (Olivia et al. 2010). The first two levels of the National Institute of Justice’s (2009) use of force continuum center around the use of the officer’s physical presence and verbalization. Verbalization is described as an officer’s use of “calm, nonthreatening commands to ensure compliance of an individual. The officer may increase his or her volume of voice or issue very specific, short commands in an attempt to gain compliance” (para. 3). Ultimately, these suggestions center around a criminal justice professional’s ability to communicate well in crisis response. However, one’s ability to communicate well may have been hampered because of the isolation and lack of communicative practice that resulted during the COVID-19 pandemic (Alcalde and Garcia, 2021).

COVID-19 impact: the communication challenge

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only disrupted the educational landscape but has also altered the way students communicate. While these disruptions are not isolated to people who work in the field of criminal justice, literature in the field reinforces the importance of strong communication skills for criminal justice professionals (Rosenbaum and Lawrence, 2017). To curb the transmission of the virus, governments in many countries, regions, and localities implemented strict policies of social distancing and shelter-in-place (Soga et al. 2021). These policies changed the way in which humans interacted, albeit for a brief period. The shift to remote learning and social distancing, for example, arguably impacted students’ comfort levels in face-to-face communication (Alcalde and Garcia, 2021). The pandemic-induced isolation many students experienced reduced their social interaction and increased their reliance on digital communication, influencing how they engaged with others (Alcade et al. 2021). This prolonged remote work and study period has made many students nervous about returning to face-to-face interactions (Flaskerud, 2022). The New York Times reported that about 9–10% of young adults and adolescents in the US have a social anxiety disorder that was intensified through months of isolation, and some of them faced social withdrawal and developed reclusive habits (Medina, 2021). Researchers stated that we might see a higher rate of social anxiety than before COVID-19 since we are starting to socialize more (Medina, 2021). The core issue is that many people are trying to avoid in-person interactions because they are not used to doing so in the post-COVID era.

In response to these challenges, criminal justice educators must take a proactive role in strengthening students’ communication competencies, which are more critical than ever in the post-COVID era. Adapting pedagogical strategies to include open dialog, scenario-based role-playing, and immersive practice opportunities within a supportive learning environment can help students regain confidence and refine essential interpersonal skills. As society continues to navigate the evolving landscape of human interaction, the ability to communicate effectively remains a foundational requirement for success and ethical engagement in the criminal justice profession.

Ideas to foster communication

Interdisciplinary collaboration strengthens educational approaches designed to enhance communication skills among criminal justice students. To better prepare students for the interpersonal demands of their future careers, colleges and universities should foster interdepartmental partnerships that create innovative opportunities for communication skill development. Schijf et al. (2022) define interdisciplinary understanding as “knowledge and skills that provide [students] with the means to produce cognitive enhancements that would not be possible through monodisciplinary programs” (p 429). Smith et al. (2024) further note that professional fields are calling for students who can “think outside disciplinary silos” and that working in interdisciplinary groups is one important way to produce such students (p 494). Another aspect may be integrating theater-based techniques into the criminal justice curriculum. For instance, students can benefit significantly from applied improvisation courses, which are defined as “the use of principles, tools, practices, skills, and mindsets of improvisational theater in non-theatrical settings that may result in personal development, team building, creativity, innovation, and/or meaning” (Tint and Froerer, 2014, p 2). Improvisational theater fosters essential skills such as quick thinking, adaptability, and the ability to respond effectively to unpredictable situations (Balachandra, 2019). These skills align with pedagogical strategies such as case-based learning (Buhrig, 2024) and scenario-based training (SBT), commonly used in law enforcement to simulate real-world encounters (Conley, 2024).

Although SBT is widely regarded as a cornerstone of law enforcement training, referred to by Di Nota and Huhta (2019, p 10) as “the gold standard for complex motor learning for police,” it has limitations. Specifically, it often lacks timely, constructive feedback and fails to demonstrate what constitutes an appropriate response to a given scenario (Rajakaruna et al. 2017). Improvisational theater addresses these shortcomings by offering immediate feedback and modeling effective responses, allowing participants to iteratively refine their interpersonal and decision-making skills in dynamic, scenario-based environments.

Collaboration between theater and criminal justice departments can therefore yield powerful pedagogical interventions. Students can practice communication and conflict-resolution strategies in realistic yet safe settings through co-developed courses, workshops, or extracurricular programs. These applied improvisation activities allow students to “learn by doing” and explore complex, nuanced scenarios that often extend beyond textbook guidance (George et al. 2015). A central tenet of improv, “Yes, And” encourages active listening, acceptance, and collaboration (Rossing and Hoffman-Longtin, 2016, p 95). By accepting a given premise (“Yes”) and contributing constructively to it (“And”), students develop a mindset that is both empathetic and action-oriented, skills essential in law enforcement, courtrooms, and rehabilitative settings. This technique reinforces the principle that communication is a reciprocal process and that participants play an active role in shaping interactions (Rossing et al. 2016).

Nevertheless, certain high-risk scenarios, such as responding to an overturned tanker truck or the chaotic aftermath of a natural disaster, pose logistical and financial challenges for traditional in-person improvisation-based training. In such cases, virtual reality (VR) offers a compelling alternative. VR technology enables students to engage safely in dangerous or highly complex simulations that would be impossible to replicate in real-world training due to injury risks or the required scale of resources. As Zechner et al. (2023) explain, “VR-based training offers possibilities to safely train in dangerous situations that would not be allowed in real-life training because of the high risk of physical injuries to trainees or bystanders” (Zechner et al. 2023). By incorporating VR into communication training, academic institutions can expand access to immersive, experiential learning environments that prepare criminal justice students for both routine and extreme scenarios.

Furthermore, VR-based training offers advantages when the learner population is widely dispersed geographically, across multiple time zones, where coordinating live improv sessions would be problematic. In such cases, criminal justice educators could use immersive VR technology to facilitate realistic and safe simulations of high-stress emergency response situations for residential, commuter, and online students.

Advancements in VR hardware and software have also increased accessibility and affordability in the consumer market. Simultaneously, these developments have significantly enhanced immersion [emphasis added] in virtual environments, reinforcing the user’s sense of presence. Lowo Encyclopedia Britannica defines virtual reality as “the use of computer modeling and simulation that enables a person to interact with an artificial three-dimensional (3-D) visual or other sensory environment” (Lowood, 2025). In the context of VR, immersion is “the condition in which the user loses awareness of the fact that they are actually in an artificial world. He or she experiences the virtual world with all their senses and is able to…interact with the virtual environment” (Bockholt, 2017). Weber et al. (2021) suggest that in VR the “feeling of presence occurs if a mediated environment (1) captures and maintains our attention and (2) is perceived as realistic”. Randall Rode, senior consultant with Yale University, illustrates presence best in his statement,

“When I read a book, when I watch a movie, when I play a video game, I’m an observer. I’m learning a lot, I’m taking in the experience, I’m imagining myself in the footsteps of whomever the characters are. But I’m not there. In a virtual reality experience, you’re there. Your body interprets, your brain interprets this as an authentic experience. Something happens in the room, your heart rate goes up, you start to sweat” (Pomerantz, 2018).

VR-enhanced improv can also be a transformative tool in training students to respond to the complexities of real-world interactions. In particular, criminal justice students gain an authentic experience that resembles those they will likely encounter beyond the virtual environment before potentially pursuing a criminal justice career (Farley, 2023). Siegrist et al. (2019) found that individuals using VR behave similarly to those in the real world, indicating that VR training is a good tool to prepare future criminal justice professionals. Ultimately, VR learning provides an opportunity for criminal justice students to develop empathy, active listening, and learn appropriate responses to various emotionally charged situations.

While VR technology is becoming increasingly accessible and affordable, concerns regarding inclusivity, particularly gender-related, remain significant (Pröbster et al. 2021). Research suggests that gender can influence both the perception and experience of VR use. Pröbster et al. (2021) note that prevailing stereotypes framing technology as inherently masculine may shape initial attitudes toward VR, with female participants initially perceiving VR users as less social and approachable than their male counterparts. However, these perceptions often shift with direct experience. Notably, female users in the same study reported greater immersion and enjoyment following hands-on exposure to VR, indicating that familiarity with the technology can positively affect engagement and reduce initial skepticism. These findings are echoed by Dirin et al. (2019), who found that female participants experienced more intense positive emotional responses and felt more inspired by VR experiences than males. Such gender-related differences align with broader literature on technology-enhanced learning, consistently highlighting varied engagement patterns and perceptions across genders. These insights underscore the importance of designing VR-based educational interventions that are not only accessible but also inclusive and responsive to the diverse needs of learners.

Ultimately, the adaptability of VR technology allows for the creation of diverse scenarios tailored to specific training needs. This adaptability ensures that the training remains relevant and up-to-date with current societal and criminal justice challenges. The immersive and interactive nature of VR, coupled with its ability to simulate a wide range of realistic scenarios, significantly enhances the effectiveness of improv exercises. It equips students with the necessary skills, from quick decision-making and effective communication to empathy and crisis management, ensuring they are better prepared for the complexities of their respective fields. As technology advances, the scope of VR in professional training is likely to expand further, offering even more sophisticated and nuanced training opportunities.

De-escalation strategies and person-centered approach

Criminal justice students must be equipped with the skills necessary to manage crisis situations and de-escalate conflicts in real-life scenarios. Students should develop a foundational skill set in relationship building and de-escalation strategies to supplement our actionable recommendations of integrating theater improv and VR simulation in learning exercises. These are crucial for effectively managing crises in professional contexts. The concept of a crisis can be defined in multiple ways. James and Gilliland (2017) summarize crisis as the perception or experience of an event or situation that an individual finds intolerably difficult, exceeding their available resources and coping mechanisms. Understanding an individual’s internal perception of an overwhelming situation is central to understanding crisis interventions.

Furthermore, Jackson-Cherry and Erford (2018) offer a trilogy definition of crisis, identifying three essential elements that must be present for an event to qualify as a crisis: (1) a precipitating event, (2) a perception of the event that results in subjective distress, and (3) diminished functioning due to the inability to cope with the distress using customary mechanisms. Understanding these components is critical for criminal justice students, as it requires sensitivity to an individual’s perception of an event and awareness of the distress it may cause. This awareness includes recognizing and mitigating our own personal biases that might impede empathy, as perceived misunderstanding often triggers aggression in those in crisis.

For helping professionals, including counselors, criminal justice practitioners, and law enforcement officers, being attuned to an individual’s verbal and behavioral cues is essential for identifying potential aggression. This awareness facilitates the initiation of de-escalation strategies, which are intended to prevent harm to the individual or others. When confronting a situation requiring de-escalation, key factors include self-control, awareness of one’s physical presence, and employing appropriate verbal and non-verbal strategies (James and Gilliland, 2017). Effective de-escalation involves maintaining control over one’s emotional and physical responses, adopting a non-threatening stance, and engaging in a calm and patient dialog with the individual in crisis.

One influential approach in helping professions is person-centered therapeutic therapy pioneered by Carl Rogers. Rogers (1957) introduced a humanistic view that sees individuals as innately striving toward becoming fully functioning, with inherent self-healing capacities. This approach emphasizes that it is the therapist’s attitudes, beliefs, and the therapeutic relationship that create an environment conducive to personal growth. The goal of therapy is not simply to solve immediate problems but to empower individuals to cope more effectively with both present and future challenges (Rogers, 1961).

Rogers (1957) identified three core conditions necessary for therapeutic change. These core conditions include genuineness (congruence), empathic understanding, and unconditional positive regard. He posited that these conditions are both necessary and sufficient for fostering growth and healing within the client. Genuineness refers to the therapist’s ability to be authentic and congruent in the relationship, while empathic understanding involves accurately perceiving the client’s internal frame of reference and communicating this understanding. Unconditional positive regard entails accepting the client without judgment, regardless of their present circumstances.

These core conditions are vital in therapeutic settings and applicable to all human interactions, particularly in crisis management situations. When criminal justice practitioners and law enforcement officers exhibit these qualities, they create an environment where individuals in crisis feel understood and supported, thereby activating their capacities for self-regulation and growth. Moreover, Rogers’ core conditions have universal applicability across diverse cultural contexts, making them valuable tools for working with individuals from various backgrounds (Rogers, 1961).

Teaching criminal justice practitioners basic attending and active listening skills, along with Rogers’ core conditions, can significantly enhance their ability to de-escalate crisis situations. Skills such as using minimal encouragers (brief responses or phrases that clarify meaning) and reflecting feelings to identify and acknowledge the underlying emotions of the individual in crisis are fundamental techniques in effective communication (Ivey et al. 2016). By fostering a more profound emotional understanding, these strategies can lead to more informed decision-making and improved outcomes in crisis intervention.

Integrating de-escalation strategies and a person-centered approach within the training of criminal justice students equips them with critical tools for managing all situations. By cultivating self-awareness, empathy, and active listening, students can better navigate high-stress encounters, prevent conflict, and foster positive individual outcomes.

Interdepartmental collaboration: a beneficial tool for enhanced synergy and efficiency

Engaging in collaborative projects that necessitate the integration of students from various departments not only cultivates diverse communication skills but also serves as a powerful catalyst for holistic academic growth. By breaking down the traditional silos of departmental boundaries, students are exposed to a rich tapestry of perspectives, methodologies, and expertise, fostering an environment where interdisciplinary synergy becomes the norm. For example, criminal justice students can work with computer science students to explore the impact of technology on criminal activity and collaboratively create VR training experiences for future students. These group projects encourage students to learn how to communicate effectively across disciplines, helping them develop a broader perspective and the ability to translate complex ideas to a wider audience.

Furthermore, many colleges have communication or writing centers. These centers can collaborate with various departments to offer specialized workshops and tutoring sessions tailored to the specific communication needs of those disciplines. Ultimately, they are helping students develop the lost art of communication, which, again, is an imperative tool for future criminal justice professionals to develop.

Moreover, colleges with diverse student populations can develop programs encouraging multilingual students to help their peers improve their language skills and develop intercultural awareness. These programs can include conversation partners, language exchange opportunities, or language-specific courses. For example, students majoring in languages can collaborate with international students to enhance their language skills and cultural understanding, fostering effective cross-cultural communication.

Ultimately, enhancing student communication skills through cross-departmental collaboration enriches their educational experience and equips them with a broader skill set that will serve them well in their future careers. By fostering such partnerships, colleges and universities produce well-rounded, adaptable graduates in criminal justice who can effectively communicate and thrive professionally.

Case study

Pedagogical framework for communication skills development

In February of 2024 and April of 2025, two training sessions for future and current criminal justice system professionals were held on the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMUCC) campus, which utilized these techniques. The sessions were each approximately four hours in duration and involved virtual reality (VR) and live actors performing improvised scenes for law enforcement scenario training. Grounded in Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory (1984), which conceptualizes learning as a cyclical process involving concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation, these communication skills workshops for criminal justice students were deliberately structured to follow this model. Each workshop began with instruction from criminal justice experts and counseling professionals who introduced evidence-based de-escalation strategies, including scripted techniques for communicating with individuals experiencing mental health crises. Students then engaged in theater improvisation exercises designed to simulate these complex interactions, promoting spontaneity, adaptability, and empathetic responses, core elements of experiential learning (Spolin, 1999; Beard and Wilson, 2018). After each activity, students worked collaboratively to critique and refine the scenarios based on the strategies discussed, enabling peer-driven reflective observation.

To deepen the students’ understanding and encourage analytical thinking, students were guided through structured reflection sessions and group discussions, linking their experiences to broader theories of communication, justice, and professional practice (Schön, 1983; Beard et al. 2018). The workshops culminated in an immersive virtual reality simulation, in which students assumed the perspective of individuals approached by law enforcement, allowing them to experience the interaction from the other side and enhancing their capacity for empathy and critical insight. This interdisciplinary design, drawing from criminal justice, counseling, theater, and technology, allowed students to reapply and refine their communication skills in iterative cycles, consistent with the principles of active experimentation (Kolb and Kolb, 2005).

Training participants were given a survey after they completed their session. Survey questions were developed in consultation with subject matter experts in criminal justice and VR technology to align with the current workshop objectives and to capture the key aspects of the participants’ experience. Though these surveys were originally created solely for the purpose of program improvement, the quantity and quality of data collected were sufficient to inform the present case study. All 17 individuals who attended the first event, and 17 of the 18 attendees at the second training session, completed a survey. The information that follows is derived from those 34 surveys.

The survey consisted of 37 questions. The present analysis examines current criminal justice career status, sex, age, race/ethnicity, primary language, career aspirations, experience with policing courses, experience with classes that used VR/scenario training, perceptions of workshop content, perceptions regarding relevancy of workshop material, and perceptions of how well materials prepared them for real-world experiences. The following univariate statistics describe these variables in greater detail.

Participants were primarily college students who were interested in a career in criminal justice (79.4%), though some were already working in the system (20.6%). Women comprised 67.6% of training attendees, while the remaining 32.4% of participants were male. The vast majority of respondents were between the ages of 19 and 29 (97.1%), with one respondent reporting that they were 50 years old. A large majority of participants self-classified as White, Hispanic or Latino(a) (67.6%), with 20.6% reporting White, Non-Hispanic, 2.9% responding as Black or African American, 2.9% responding as Asian, and 5.9% reporting themselves as some other race. Most (85.3%) reported that they spoke English as their first or primary language,Footnote 1 and 38.2% saw themselves working in law enforcement in 5 years, with the remainder divided between other jobs in criminal justice (courtroom-related jobs, corrections, fundamental support staff, victim services, and other; 32.4%), and uncertainty or not wanting to work in criminal justice (29.4%). Three participants reported that they had taken a high school class that used virtual reality or live actors for scenario training, and four people reported either taking a college class or professional development training that did so. All others reported no prior exposure to such techniques.

Univariate data further reveal that ~76.5% of participants felt that virtual reality or live scenario training is preferable to other teaching methods after participating in the program. In addition, 91.2% of participants felt that the workshop prepared them for real-life events somewhat well (2.9%), well (32.4%), or very well (55.9%). A vast majority (91.2%) also felt that they would apply the skills and knowledge gained in training to their profession in the future, 90.6% felt that the workshop was relevant or highly relevant to current CJ issues, and 88.2% reported gaining confidence in tackling challenges in their respective criminal justice profession. Finally, 90.9% of the valid responses (one respondent left this question blank) indicated that they would like to attend a future workshop that uses live or virtual reality scenario training. Table 1 illustrates univariate statistics.

Table 1 Univariate statistics.
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Bivariate correlations suggest that a person’s gender may be relevant to perceptions regarding the use of VR or live scenarios in training. Specifically, women were statistically significantly more likely than their male counterparts to feel that this form of training prepared them for real-life events (r = 0.552, p = 0.001) and that the workshop content was relevant to current criminal justice issues (r = 0.398, p = 0.020). Other variables examined, including race and ethnicity, projected profession in 5 years, age, whether English was their first or primary language, and whether participants were currently working in the criminal justice field, all showed no statistically significant bivariate relationship with the measured perceptions of this training.

The relatively low number of participants in this case study (34) limits more advanced multivariate analysis due to concerns about statistical power (for a discussion of statistical power, see Tabachnick and Fidell, 2007, p 11). Multivariate analysis possibilities are further restricted because many participants affirmed that they perceived the program as mainly positive, leaving too few dissenters to analyze. While two multivariate models can be run, the results should be viewed with caution. This, again, is because a low sample size can create a relatively low probability of correctly rejecting the null hypothesis when it is false (i.e. low statistical power). Still, suggestions regarding the minimum number of study participants per predictor in a regression model range from 5 to 15 or 20 (S. Menard, personal communication, April 16, 2017). The current circumstance of 34 respondents to 5 independent variables meets the lower end of those suggestions for adequate statistical power. Therefore, an exploratory analysis is presented here. The first is a linear regression model examining predictors of perceptions that the workshop is relevant to current criminal justice issues. Participants were asked to rank the workshop’s relevance to current CJ system issues on a scale of 1–5, with 5 being the most relevant. The second model is also linear regression, and it examines predictors of perceptions that the workshop prepared participants for real life (again, on a scale of 1–5, with 5 being the highest level of preparation).

Independent variables in both analyses are gender, race/ethnicity, future career projections, whether English is their primary language, and whether participants are currently working in the criminal justice system. Gender is coded as female (1) vs. male (0), race is coded as White, Hispanic/Latino(a) (1) vs. all other racial categories combined (0), future career projection is coded as law enforcement (1) vs. other (2), whether English is the primary language is coded as yes = 1 and no = 0, and the same for whether the program participant is currently working in the CJ system (yes = 1, no = 0).

While dummy coding could potentially tease more detail out of these predictors, recall that almost 68% of survey respondents reported being White, Hispanic, or Latino(a). This leaves too few in any one other racial category for separate analysis. In addition, 13 of the 34, or 38% of participants, saw themselves working in law enforcement in 5 years. For all criminal justice related jobs, other than law enforcement/policing, the highest response rate in any individual category was three respondents, with an additional five people who reported that they did not know where they want to be in terms of employment in 5 years, and five more who responded that they did not want to work in the CJ system (this last group predominantly consisted of people interested in nursing and counseling or psychology). As with race, it means there are too few people who see themselves working in any other specific area of the criminal justice system five years from now to analyze separately. Finally, it should be noted here that age was not used as a predictor in these analyses because there was too little variation. Specifically, 33 of the 34 workshop participants were between the ages of 19 and 29, with only one respondent reporting an age of 50 years. Accordingly, this should largely be seen as an in-group analysis of young adults rather than a comparison of people from different age groupings (Table 2).

Table 2 Bivariate correlations.
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Table 3 illustrates the linear regression model results predicting perceptions that the scenario-based workshop is relevant to current criminal justice issues. From this, we can see that the model is not statistically significant (p = 0.237). Further, only one independent variable in the model has a statistically significant relationship with the outcome. In this case, women are statistically significantly more likely to feel that this training is relevant to current criminal justice issues than are males (b* = 0.402, p = 0.033). Recall that this relationship also existed at the bivariate level. It was strong enough to remain even when controlling for other variables in this model.

Table 3 Linear regression model for perceptions that scenario-based workshop is relevant to criminal justice issues.
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Table 4 contains the results of the multivariate model predicting perceptions that the workshop prepared participants for real life. The model is statistically (p = 0.017) and substantively (R2 = 0.264) significant, suggesting that the variables, when taken together, impact the dependent variable beyond mere chance. In addition, the combined variables explain 26.4% of the variation in the dependent variable. As with the previous model, only one independent variable in the model has a statistically significant impact on the dependent variable, and that is gender. In this case, women are more likely than men to feel that this type of training prepared them for the real world (b* = 0.522, p = 0.003), even when controlling for other variables in the model.

Table 4 Linear regression model for perceptions that scenario-based workshop prepared participants for real life.
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Conclusion

Kolb’s Experimental Learning Theory (1984) reminds us that learning is a cyclical process that involves being exposed to, or immersed in, a new experience, followed by observing others, then creating theories to explain those observations, and finally testing the newly created theories by using them to make decisions or solve problems. An initial case study of two workshops structured after this model suggests that the use of VR and live scenario training to stimulate the learning process in a controlled environment may be effective for all students but holds special appeal for female individuals. Admittedly, caution should be taken regarding generalizing the results of a single exploratory case study with 34 program participants. Nonetheless, the current results certainly warrant future research on the matter, and if broader findings agree with these preliminary results, this training method may support the effectiveness and feelings of confidence in groups of people who have traditionally been underrepresented in criminal justice professions.

Qualitative feedback also supports the exploratory quantitative findings presented here. When asked why they think VR or live scenario training is preferable to other forms of teaching about de-escalation, male subjects commented sentiments such as “[It’s] cool to see more than a video on a screen” At least one male respondent cautioned that the “real thing may be different” from that of VR or live scenarios. Women, in contrast, replied that this form of training is “more realistic and engaging” and that it “gives you the opportunity to practice and get comfortable for real-world situations”. Many women echoed the sentiment that they felt this form of training gave them experience and allowed them to feel more prepared.

Criminal justice professors hold the key to shaping the future of the profession. Their responsibility is to mold students who can communicate effectively, build trust, advocate for justice, and transform lives. In a post-COVID world, where human connections have been tested, effective communication skills are non-negotiable. To meet the evolving challenges of the profession and nurture the next generation of criminal justice professionals, educators must prioritize, emphasize, and reinforce the development of communication skills using all available modalities. By doing so, they ensure that their students are not only well-equipped to navigate the multifaceted challenges of their profession but also capable of being pillars of trust, integrity, and justice in our communities.