Role playing: applications in hostage and crisis negotiation skills training.
Role-play scripts give trainers a ready-made BST path for crisis talk skills.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Beaumont et al. (2008) wrote a how-to guide for police trainers.
They built role-play scenes that feel like real hostage talks.
Each scene lists exact words, voice tone, and body cues to practice.
What they found
The paper shows the plan, not test scores.
No data on how well cops learned.
The focus is on making the drills look and feel real.
How this fits with other research
Hunter et al. (2023) built PORTL, a cheap table-top game that teaches shaping and extinction without animals.
Both papers give trainers a low-cost kit that mimics real work.
Odom et al. (1986) used real BST with plastics workers and cut harmful fumes fast.
That study proves BST works; B et al. only map out how cops could use the same steps.
Why it matters
You can borrow the role-play scripts to train staff in any high-stakes job.
Write short scenes, list target behaviors, and run the drill until fluency.
Pair the script with brief feedback like L et al. did to turn practice into real skill.
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Pick one tough work task, write a two-minute role-play, and rehearse it with your team.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Role playing has been a mainstay of behavioral assessment for decades. In recent years, however, this analogue strategy has also enjoyed widespread application in the field of law enforcement. Most notably, role-play procedures have become an integral component of assessment and training efforts in hostage and crisis negotiation, which attempts to resolve high-risk and often volatile situations in a peaceful, nonviolent manner when possible. The purpose of this paper is to (a) describe development and validation of a role-play test specifically geared toward law enforcement negotiators, (b) present different role-play formats that have been incorporated in law enforcement negotiation training, and (c) discuss limitations and considerations in use of these instruments. Suggestions for directions that future efforts in this area might take are offered. The heuristic value of role playing in crisis management, counterterrorism, and emergency and mass casualty disaster training exercises is also underscored.
Behavior modification, 2008 · doi:10.1177/0145445507308281