Author(s):
Clemens Lorei & Rainer Bachmann

Institution:
Hessische Hochschule für öffentliches Management und Sicherheit

Title:
And they do communicate! Reflections on de-escalating communication with people who remain silent

Abstract:
During operations, police officers sometimes come across people who refuse to communicate and respond to all attempts at conversation with silence or a very delayed or limited reaction. This makes interaction with these people communicatively challenging, but by no means impossible, because as the first axiom of communication according to Watzlawick, Beavin & Jackson states, you cannot not communicate. Silence can therefore also be seen as communication. In this article, the basics of communication psychology are first presented, which appear significant in connection with silent or very limited speaking personS. In particular, these are the possible consequences of such silence for the police interaction partner and the course of the situation. Various types of silence and possible causes are then discussed. On this theoretical basis, approaches are discussed in connection with the KODIAK de-escalation model, which can deal with such operational situations in a de-escalating and communicative manner. Finally, scenarios are described which can help to train the relevant skills.

S. 17-40