Virtual Reality: Criminology's Critical Enabling Technology?

• In Event: Decison Making, Morality, Emotionality and Virtual Reality

Abstract

I discuss the potential of virtual reality technology for criminology. Whereas the merits of VR for research purposes, such as its ability to achieve high levels of ecological validity without compromising internal validity, reproducibility, and the real time observation of behavior, have been described across the social, behavioral and life sciences, I will argue that it may be for criminology that the potential of VR is truly transformative and why it is critical for criminologists to adopt this technology. I review recent research using VR in criminogenic contexts and relevant VR research form other disciplines, explain the technology’s basic features, and elaborate on how VR is uniquely suited to address problems that have traditionally plagued the field of criminology. Limitations and ethical considerations are also discussed. I conclude with that within the foreseeable future, VR may become for criminology the functional equivalent of the petri dish in the exact sciences: offering the possibility to study how complex behavioral processes unfold in extremely detailed ways.

Author

• Jean-Louis van Gelder, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law