Mission

During my Master in Investigative Psychology the focus was very much on the link between science and practice. Since then I started focusing on this, as I believe that doing research without sharing it in the appropriate form is worthless.

Communication training for security professionals

To make sure my own research has a direct impact on society, I provide training to security professionals in where I teach them the complexity of the communication in high-stake interactions to make them better-prepared communicators. This training includes simple role-playing exercises around, for example, making errors, theory on the impact of non-smooth communication and how to solve this, and thought-provoking discussions on ethical decisions that need to be made in these interactions. My goal in training these safety professionals is to foster environments where their interaction partners feel secure and comfortable enough to communicate freely. Underneath you will find an overview of trainings I have provided over the years. Please contact me if you are interested in a training like this.

Connecting research with practice and policy
Next to making sure that my own research has a direct impact on society, I like to build bridges between other academics, practitioners and policy-makers. Over the years, I have had different positions in where I gained experience for this, such as my role as scientific collaborator at the Ministry of Justice and Security, and my more recent roles as BMS theme chair Resilience, UT coordinator of the VU-UT impact coalition Creating Secure Societies, and as of September as UT coordinator for the Center for Safety and Digitalization (see my Curriculum Vitae for more information on these roles). Please contact me if you would like to connect to practice and/or policy (for academics) or with academics (for practitioners and policy-makers). Please note that my core network is in the safety and security domain.

Workshops for practice

  • Oostinga, M. S. D. (2023, August 31). Communication error management in high-stake interactions. Northwave, ransomware negotiators training.
  • Oostinga, M. S. D. (2022, March 11).‘(Het) ijs breken’: Communicatiefouten herstellen in politie-burger interacties [‘Breaking (the) ice’: Communication error recovery in police-citizen interactions]. Police Brussels, negotiator day.
  • Oostinga, M. S. D. (2021, November 18). Breaking (the) ice: Communication error management in law enforcement interactions. CREST CPD event Manchester, Communication, engagement and influence.
  • Oostinga, M. S. D. (2019, October 31). ‘(Het) ijs breken’: Communicatiefouten herstellen in politie-burger interacties [‘Breaking (the) ice’: Communication error recovery in police-citizen interactions]. Police Academy Apeldoorn, Theme day.
  • Oostinga, M. S. D., & Giebels, E. (2018, September 20). Communication fluency in crisis negotiations. Antwerpen, International Negotiation Working Group Conference.
  • Oostinga, M. S. D. (2017, November 24). ‘(Het) ijs breken’: Communicatiefouten herstellen in politie-burger interacties [‘Breaking (the) ice’: Communication error recovery in police-citizen interactions]. Police Academy Ossendrecht, Conference police crisis negotiators.
  • Oostinga, M. S. D. (2017, November 23). ‘(Het) ijs breken’: Communicatiefouten herstellen in politie-burger interacties [‘Breaking (the) ice’: Communication error recovery in police-citizen interactions]. Custodial Institutions Agency Nieuwersluis, Conference prison crisis negotiators.
  • Oostinga, M. S. D., & Jansen, R. (2017, September 6). ‘(Het) ijs breken’: Communicatiefouten herstellen in politie-burger interacties [‘Breaking (the) ice’: Communication error recovery in police-citizen interactions]. Police Academy Warnsveld, Training Dutch police detectives.
  • Oostinga, M. S. D., Giebels, E., Taylor, P. J., & Curtis, J. L. (2013, December 18). Uncertainty avoidance and crisis communication. Police station, Training Dutch crisis negotiatiors.