Ulf Patrick Risan

• Stenshol, Kristin; Sætrevik, Bjørn; Watkins, Edward R. & Risan, Patrick (2025). Ways of Thinking in a Critical Scenario Simulation: A qualitative study of rumination in a police student sample. Nordic Journal of Studies in Policing (NJSP). 12(1), p. 1–23. doi: 10.18261/njsp.12.1.6. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  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.

• Skoglund, Tom Hilding; Risan, Ulf Patrick & Johansen, Rino Bandlitz (2025). Andragogy in a military leadership course. European Journal of Education Studies. 12(3). doi: https:/oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejes/article/view/5866/8493. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The purpose of this study is to explore the suitability of an andragogy-inspired approach to teaching in a newly developed military leadership course for seasoned officers. First, we argue that it is theoretically reasonable to consider andragogy as useful for creating a learning environment suited to officers’ needs. Such an environment may help them navigate the complexities of the military context while employing the trust-based leadership style of mission command. Second, we examined course participants’ learning-environment experiences through a questionnaire that gathered their reflections on six common andragogical learning assumptions. Our thematic analysis indicated that, overall, participants perceived these assumptions as positively influencing their learning process. However, participants’ reflections highlight the importance of course timing, the balance between theory and practice, psychological safety, and motivation in strengthening the andragogical approach in the context of this course. Based on this exploratory study, we conclude that andragogy offers a promising framework for educating seasoned officers in leadership. For more definitive and generalizable conclusions, however, we encourage further empirical research with larger samples and diverse study designs.

• Risan, Patrick; Bjerknes, Ole Thomas & Milne, Rebecca J. (2025). Police interviewers’ interviewing experiences with suspects: the interpersonal process of evidence disclosure. Psychology, Crime and Law. ISSN 1068-316X. doi: 10.1080/1068316X.2025.2484601. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The study aimed at exploring how police interviewers in Norway experience the interpersonal aspects of disclosing potential evidence during suspect interviews. Specifically, we aimed to explore what the participants experienced as required by them on an interpersonal level to carry out an appropriate evidence disclosure process, what challenges that may arise in maintaining rapport, and how these challenges can be handled. Data were collected through four focus group interviews of police investigators (n = 29) and analysed using thematic analysis that resulted in four main themes: (1) Importance of preparation and being confident in the police interviewer role, (2) Being flexible and adaptable as key skills to managing various situations, changes, and unforeseen events, (3) Managing the transition from information-gathering to challenging the suspect’s account, and (4) Exploring the interviewees’ resistance and handling their own reactions. The findings are discussed in relation to current theory and research, with an emphasis on the importance of police interviewers’ ability to adapt to changes in circumstances and suspects behaviours during investigative interviews.

• Risan, Ulf Patrick & Skoglund, Tom Hilding (2024). Changes in Personality and Hardiness over the Course of Police Training. European Journal of Policing Studies. ISSN 2034-760X. doi: 10.5553/EJPS.000020. Full text in Research Archive
• Risan, Ulf Patrick; Skoglund, Tom Hilding & Milne, Rebecca (2024). The challenges of interviewing suspects displaying disruptive behaviours: An explorative study of police interviewers’ beliefs. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. ISSN 1321-8719. doi: 10.1080/13218719.2024.2404846. Full text in Research Archive
• Risan, Patrick; Myklebust, Trond; Bjerknes, Ole Thomas & Oxburgh, Gavin (2023). Police interviewers’ experiences of the Tactical Interview Model (TIM): an exploratory study of suspect interviewing in Norway. Psychology, Crime and Law. ISSN 1068-316X. doi: 10.1080/1068316X.2023.2279327. Full text in Research Archive
• Skoglund, Tom Hilding; Lie, Anders Lohne; Jakobsen, Einar Kristian & Risan, Patrick (2023). Hardiness and baton performance among police student trainees. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice. ISSN 1752-4512. 17. doi: 10.1093/police/paad077. Full text in Research Archive
• Stenshol, Kristin; Risan, Patrick; Knudsen, Ståle & Sætrevik, Bjørn (2023). An explorative study of Police student’s decision-making in a critical incident scenario simulation. Police Practice & Research. ISSN 1561-4263. 25(4). doi: 10.1080/15614263.2023.2268789. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Sound use-of-force decisions are essential for police performance in critical incidents. In this exploratory study we seek to better understand the decision-making processes that are involved. Eighty-six third-year police students performed a use-of-force training exercise in an audio-visual, critical scenario simulation. Participants answered debriefing interviews about their subjective decision processes. Qualitative content analyses of the interviews indicated that the decision-making was based on visual, dynamic, and central information, more than on auditory, static, and peripheral information. Thoughts about the situation as well as thoughts about themselves were reported. Decision strategies were affected by level of expertise. Most participants made decisions that met safety concerns. The current study emphasizes the advantage of familiarizing students with a variety of operational settings, as well as their personal reactions towards them. It suggests the advantages of simulated training that includes psychological factors alongside more tactical and technical factors, including training in stress-regulation techniques.

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• Jakobsen, Kristina Kepinska & Risan, Patrick (2024). Etikk i etterforskning. Gyldendal Akademisk. ISBN 9788205605602. 336 p. Full text in Research Archive

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• Skoglund, Tom Hilding & Risan, Ulf Patrick (2025). Personality development among police students? Full text in Research Archive

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