Ways of Thinking in a Critical Scenario Simulation
A Qualitative Study of Rumination in a Police Student Sample
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6161763 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kristin Stenshol (0000-0001-6383-051X, Norwegian Police University College), Bjørn Sætrevik (0000-0002-9367-6987, University of Bergen), Edward R Watkins (0000-0002-2432-5577, University of Exeter), Patrick Risan (0000-0002-2890-4111, Norwegian Police University College) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-23 |
| Publication date | 2025-08-20 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Nordic Journal of Studies in Policing (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2703-7045 • E-ISSN: 2703-7045 |
| Publisher | Scandinavian University Press (PUBLISHER • NO) |
| DOI | 10.18261/njsp.12.1.6 |
| OpenAlex | W4413360195 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 75 |
Critical incident policing challenges the cognitive capacities of police officers. This study examines third-year police students’ reported thinking processes during a critical incident simulation, focusing on rumination, characterised by persistent and repetitive dwelling on thoughts, experiences, or personal states. Thematic analysis of interviews with ten participants concluded on three main themes: “Preparatory thoughts”, “tuning into the situation” and “the aftermath”, each encompassing multiple subthemes. Our analysis suggests that differentiating between rumination’s constructive and unconstructive aspects aids in understanding police students’ thinking processes in this context. For the most part, participants reported engaging in constructive facets of deliberate and concrete rumination before and during the exercise. Post-exercise, their thinking became more evaluative and reflective, often focusing on negatively valenced content. Such thinking could potentially lead to both constructive reflection and unconstructive brooding rumination. We propose that police training could benefit from encouraging deliberate and concrete rumination during and reflective rumination after exercises to enhance cognitive preparedness for critical incidents in later duty
Critical thinking · Mathematics education · Computer Science · Counseling, Therapy, and Family Dynamics · Mental Health Research Topics · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
Rumination Reconsidered
Reflecting on rumination
A roadmap to rumination
Assessing posttraumatic cognitive processes
Ruminative thought style and depressed mood
The perseverative cognition hypothesis
Qualitative research
Psychological and sociological factors influencing police officers' decisions to use force
An explorative study of Police student’s decision-making in a critical incident scenario simulation
Police lethal force errors and stress physiology during video and live evaluation simulations
The mediating role of ruminations in the relationship between negative and positive effects of indirect trauma in police officers
The four faces of rumination to stressful events
Processing mode causally influences emotional reactivity
Distinct modes of ruminative self-focus
Physiological concomitants of perseverative cognition
Police officers' perceptual distortions during lethal force situations
Application of Guba and Lincoln's parallel criteria to assess trustworthiness of qualitative research on indigenous social protection systems
Conditions for intuitive expertise
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Transferability and Generalization in Qualitative Research
A Multidimensional Structure for Repetitive Thought
Emotion guided threat detection
Universal Police Behaviours during Critical Incidents and Their Connection to Personality
Redundant deliberation about negative consequences
Everything Is Perfect, and We Have No Problems
Toward an Agenda for Evaluation of Qualitative Research
Constructive and unconstructive repetitive thought
Thematic Analysis
| Highly cited | No |
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