Evaluating the Value of Reflective Journalling in
Training Municipal Police Recruits in British
Columbia to Promote Successful Interactions with
Mental Health Consumers
Tara Horkoff

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND

DISCUSSION:

The skills required by police officers are becoming more multifarious in
conjunction with ever-shifting societal environments and conditions. One such
example is the increase of mental health consumer-police interactions and the
subsequent media and social attention they receive. Therefore, it was
necessary to examine the training municipal police recruits receive in British
Columbia in the context of their interactions with mental health consumers in
order to promote successful and positive resolution of such interactions.

The data shows a number of individuals completed the assessments
consistently applying and demonstrating a significant degree of reflective
learning throughout each of the five assessments. While some of the
respondents showed primarily second-stage reflection in each of the
assessments, the majority demonstrated predominance in applying Stage 3
descriptors throughout the latter assessments.
The majority of the Stage 3 descriptors: changed conceptual view, new
perspective, increased self-awareness, and integration were demonstrated
primarily in the third or fourth reflective assessments. While it was not overtly
expressed in the any of the respondent’s first four journals, analysis of the
responses categorized according to the stages and their descriptors shows an
elevation in cognitive processing. It is not clear why many of the third and
fourth journals indicate third-stage reflection; however, one possibility is that
through completing these reflective journal assessments, the recruit
respondents developed their reflective and critical thinking skills. This
correlated to the posed research question of whether or not these
assessments could benefit police recruit learners; the data does indicate
evidence of this.

This study examined, from the recruit perspective, how sufficient the Block 1
training they receive at the BCPA is in addressing the complexities of
increased MHC-police interactions. Additionally, following JIBC’s mandate of
applying experiential educational techniques, such as reflective journaling, the
research evaluated whether the application of journaling could aid police
recruits and staff in identifying potential learning issues and to see the
evolution of cognitive learning recruits experience.

METHOD
This research was designed as a phenomenological study to explore the
experiences of municipal police recruits at the British Columbia Police
Academy by looking for qualitative data on how prepared police recruits feel
when interacting with mental health consumers during the academy’s Block 2
field training. One such way to guide the students through the reflective
process is by assigning journaling assessments, which require learners to
look more deeply at what they are learning as well as allowing the learning to
have more participation in their individual learning processes.

APPLICATION:
Before it is possible to encourage reflective learning and more specifically to
do so through journaling, it is first necessary to inform and convince instructors
on the usefulness of such assignments. Collaboration between instructors and
students must exist in order for instructors to gain insight into learners’ needs.
To accomplish this, instructors need to put aside traditional student-teacher
dynamics of the teacher as “expert” and instead create more of a balance of
power where the student is able to contribute to how material and lessons are
delivered. The significance of this is instructors need to model behaviours that
practitioners need to replicate when interacting with clients. In the context of
the BCPA, this may prove challenging as a hierarchical para-military culture
predominates through an academy environment

Each participant completed a total of 5 assessments. The first four provided
guiding questions regarding recruit behaviours and emotions while dealing
with four separate MHC interactions. The fifth assessment asked the recruits
to reflect on their learning development throughout those interactions in their
Block 2.

RESULTS
All of the responses showed a combination of description and critical analysis,
self-awareness, synthesis, and evaluation. In examining the data to address
how confident recruits feel when they leave the BCPA after Block 1 to
continue their training in the field, it was evident that the majority of the
respondents acknowledged how significantly the training aided them in Block
2. While only two respondents recognized direct links between the use of
reflective journalling and the development of their Stage 3 learning, all
respondents demonstrated a progression to Stage 2 and 3 descriptors
demonstrating reflective learning.

KEY REFERENCES:
Atkins, S. and Murphy, K. (1993) ‘Reflection: a review of the literature’ Journal of Advanced
Nursing 18(8): 1188-1192.
Boud, D. (2001) ‘Using journal writing to enhance reflective practice’ New Directions for Adult
and Continuing Education 90: 9-18.
Hails, J. and Borum, R. (2003) ‘Police training and specialized approaches to respond to
people with mental illness’ Crime & Delinquency 49(1): 52-61.
Scanlan, J.M. and Chernomas, W.M. (1997) ‘Developing the reflective teacher’ Journal of
Advanced Nursing 25(6): 1138-1143.
Schӧn, D.A. (1987) Educating the Reflective Practitioner, San Francisco, USA: Jossey-Bass.
Thorpe, K. (2004) ‘Reflective learning journals: From concept to practice’ Reflective Practice:
International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives 5(3): 327-343.

With conducting these reflective assessments while recruits are early in their
skill development, it is the hope that they will continue to apply reflection
throughout the remainder of their training as well as in their careers. Therefore,
it would be useful to increase the application of journaling activities to promote
self-guide learning and reflection for the recruits of BCPA. By instituting
feedback sessions throughout Blocks 1 and 3, recruits would have the
opportunity to discuss the content of their reflective journals, provide feedback,
and have some of their recommendations applied while they are still at the
academy.

JUSTICE INSTITUTE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA