In recent months, CRISP has conducted a nationwide needs analysis involving 79 professionals from various educational and psychological fields of youth work. The aim was to empirically record current stress factors and the specific support needed in dealing with conflicts.
The results show a clear dynamic in everyday work: conflicts are not only becoming more frequent, but are also perceived as more intense. Verbal attacks, discrimination and racist insults, as well as (cyber) bullying, are cited as particularly stressful forms of conflict that pose major challenges for youth work staff and can push them to their limits. While digital spaces and social media often accelerate these processes through anonymity, analogue confrontations and physical violence also remain key factors that can lead to excessive stress.
In order to deal with these complex situations confidently, professionals would like to see more support in the form of resilience training and practical de-escalation training. Respondents emphasise the need to teach helpful methods regularly and with direct reference to everyday working life. Innovative approaches such as VR-based training are met with great interest: 74% of respondents are open to simulation training, and 61% of professionals see VR technology as a helpful tool for testing realistic everyday scenarios in a safe environment and consolidating their own responsiveness.
We have already explored the findings in depth in focus group discussions with experts to ensure that our ‘conflict simulator’ reflects real-life practice as closely as possible. A separate report on these in-depth discussions will follow shortly. The complete needs analysis now serves as the empirical basis for the development of AI-supported VR simulations.
