Training for the job: evaluation of a self-defence training programme for correctional officers

Matthijs Koedijk, Peter G. Renden, Raôul R.D. Oudejans, R. I. (Vana) Hutter

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    5 Citations (Scopus)
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    Abstract

    We investigated to what extent correctional officers were able to apply skills from their self-defence training in reality-based scenarios. Performance of nine self-defence skills were tested in different scenarios at three moments: before starting the self-defence training programme (Pre-test), halfway through (Post-test 1), and after (Post-test 2). Repeated measures analyses showed that performance on skills improved after the self-defence training. For each skill, however, there was a considerable number of correctional officers (range 4–73%) that showed insufficient performance on Post-test 2, indicating that after training they were not able to properly apply their skills in reality-based scenarios. Reality-based scenarios may be used to achieve fidelity in assessment of self-defence skills of correctional officers.

    Practitioner summary: Self-defence training for correctional officers must be representative for the work field. By including reality-based scenarios in assessment, this study determined that correctional officers were not able to properly apply their learned skills in realistic contexts. Reality-based scenarios seem fit to detect discrepancies between training and the work field. 

    Abbreviations: DJI: Dutch National Agency for Correctional Insitutes; ICC: Intraclass Correlation Coefficient.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1585-1597
    JournalErgonomics
    Volume62
    Issue number12
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2019

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