Could you commit a virtual burglary?

The study is the pilot testing phase of a project that will assess how co-offenders interact in residential burglaries using a virtual reality simulation.

What will participants be doing?

Participant will be shown how to use the virtual reality (VR) simulation, and then will work together to 'burgle' a virtual property. Their interactions in the simulation will be recorded, and their heart rates will be monitored using a wrist device. After completing the sim they will be asked to complete a survey that assesses interactions with the VR, personality tests and immersion in the environment.

Duration

Approximately 1 hour.

Apply

You can sign up by contacting Dr Amy Meenaghan (amy.meenaghan@port.ac.uk).

If you have any questions, you should contact Dr Amy Meenaghan (amy.meenaghan@port.ac.uk).

Participant characteristics:

• staff and students
• any gender
• aged 18+

Location

St George's Building, 141 High Street, Portsmouth, PO1 2HY OR Eldon Building, Winston Churchill Avenue, Portsmouth, PO1 2DJ.

Closing date

24 March 2023.

Ethics code: FHSS 2022-025

Further information

The study aims to extend support for the use of virtual reality (VR) as a tool for understanding offending behaviour by focussing attention on the role of peer influence on burglary decision making. VR has proven to be a valuable tool for uncovering individual cognitions associated with the commission of a burglary (e.g. Nee et al., 2019; van Gelder et al., 2017; van Sintermaartensdijk et al., 2020), however further research is required to assess its capacity to expose the role of peer interactions on decision-making at the scene of a crime.

Residential burglary is a prevalent crime with far-reaching effects on its victims. It is commonly undertaken in pairs or in groups (Carrington. 2009; Piquero et al., 2007), and those who co-offend have been found to be less likely to be arrested, more likely to reoffend, and to continue to offend for a longer period of time (Lantz & Hutchinson, 2015). Evidence suggests that peers may encourage the decision to offend by influencing risk judgments (McGloin & Thomas, 2016). The impact on decisions made while undertaking a burglary is less clear but has important implications for crime prevention initiatives.

This project will empirically test whether a collaborative burglary task, presented in immersive VR, is capable of creating a sense of presence sufficient to provide a proxy for real-life behaviour. Student participant pairs will complete a virtual burglary. Vocalisations and interactions will be recorded and analysed alongside subjective and physiological measures of participant immersion and presence. The findings will be used to demonstrate the capacity of the methodology for assessing and recording the role of collaborative decision-making in target selection and the search during a residential burglary.