BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology for Clinical Settings
Understanding first-and second-order understanding: An applied System-Theoretical Analysis of a Police Encounter with a Person in Crisis
1. German Sport University Cologne, Cologne, Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia, 50933
2. Department of Police, University of Applied Sciences for Police and Public Administration in North Rhine-Westphalia, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
3. Independent, Aurora, Canada
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Abstract
Police interactions with persons in mental health crisis (PiC) carry the potential for escalation. In this brief research report, we present a case study of such an encounter, examining videographic data of a widely circulated clip. The analysis follows a system-theoretical understanding of communication as a sequence of connective operations and uses the concept of turning points to identify structurally significant shifts in the interaction. The results indicate that escalation in the present example is primarily a result of communicative connection problems due to situationally divergent frames of reference and dynamic spatial compression. We then show how the Constraints-Led Approach (CLA) allows the translation of these interaction problems into representative training structures. The report thus provides both scientific insights into the structure of police interactions with PiC as well as practice-relevant impulses for the design of case-based police education and training.
Summary
Keywords
police interaction, person in crisis, Systems Theory, understanding, Constraints-ledApproach, Crisis Intervention, de-escalation
Received
28 February 2025
Accepted
28 November 2025
Copyright
© 2025 Koerner, Staller and Zaiser. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Mario S. Staller
Disclaimer
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