Universiteit Leiden

nl en

Seminar series

Social Resilience & Security seminar series: Virtual Reality in criminal behaviour research

Date
Tuesday 11 October 2022
Time
Address
Pieter de la Court
Wassenaarseweg 52
2333 AK Leiden
Room
5A42

In this talk, Jean-Louis van Gelder (Professor Criminology) discusses the potential of virtual reality (VR) technology for the study of crime and related behaviours. He explains how VR is uniquely suited to address problems that have traditionally plagued the field. More specifically, Jean-Louis van Gelder argues that for research on criminal behavior the application of VR yields particular potential, because crimes generally do not lend themselves to direct observation or manipulation. Furthermore, lab paradigms and online experiments are often unsuitable or impossible, because there is often an incentive for offenders to misrepresent the facts as they occurred. Also, the research topics of interest can be unethical or risky to study using conventional methods.

Taken together, Jean-Louis van Gelder will show that VR can provide an ecologically valid alternative for, or complement, traditional research methods. VR can create research possibilities that are hard to realize otherwise and allows for the study of phenomena that are difficult to study in the real world for either ethical, budgetary or practical reasons. During the talk, recent research using VR in criminogenic contexts and relevant research form other disciplines are reviewed and some of the technology’s basic features, limitations and ethical considerations are explained. 

Learn more during the (hybrid) seminar

The seminar ''Virtual Reality in criminal behaviour research'' given by Jean-Louis van Gelder (Professor Criminology) will take place in the Pieter de la Court building (room 5A42) or can be joined online via the Zoom link below.

Social Resilience & Security seminar series

This hybrid seminar series is organized by researchers from the Social Resilience and Security programme. The programme brings together experts from Leiden University and the LUMC, including but not limited to the Faculties of Archaeology, Governance and Global Affairs, Humanities, Law and Social and Behavioural Sciences. Together with a large network of international experts, the programme seeks to examine the mechanisms of social resilience and security, for instance through studying the processes of resilience, uncertainty, and violence in society.

Join Zoom meeting

This website uses cookies.  More information.