Horror Quests as a Promising Method of Tactical and Special Training of Cadets of the Department of Internal Affairs

Karimov Al'bert Amirovich PhD in Pedagogy Head of the Department of Tactical and Special Training of the East-Siberian Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia 664074, Russia, Irkutsk region, Irkutsk, Lermontov str., 110 aa550@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

 The purpose of the work is to study horror quests as a promising direction for the introduction and adaptation of tactical, special and psychophysical training of law enforcement officers.

The set goal determines the objectives of the study, namely:

1.         To reveal the role of psychophysical training in the system of tactical and special training of law enforcement officers, as well as its impact on overall professional fitness;

2. Consider the history, content and essence of horror quests as one of the most popular types of modern leisure;

3.        To evaluate the possibility of adapting the concept of horror quests into the process of tactical, special and psychophysical training of police officers, as well as to consider ways of practical implementation of such adaptation.

The object of the study is tactical and special training as a basic element of professional training of employees of internal affairs bodies.

The subject of the study is horror quests as a promising direction of psychophysical training.

The scientific novelty lies in the substantiation of the application of the horror quest methodology in the psychophysical training of police officers.

In this regard, law enforcement activity, as the main mechanism of state counteraction to crime, is also becoming more dangerous. The chances of an abnormal or extreme situation occurring during the performance of operational and service tasks by an employee increase significantly.

Psychophysical training, as the main tool for developing employees' stress tolerance and maintaining professional fitness, as well as one of the basic elements of tactical and special training, currently shows very low efficiency.

Ways to improve the methods of psychophysical training of police officers are constantly discussed, many promising methods are proposed, based on both special programs used in the armed forces and law enforcement agencies of Russia.

One of the conceptual programs of psychophysical training of law enforcement officers may be the introduction and adaptation of horror quests based on the interactive participation of people in the performance of logical and other tasks.

The founders of modern world standards of psychophysical training are such figures as Vladimir Spiridonov, Anatoly Kharlampiev, Alexey Kadochnikov, Imi Lichtenfeld, William Fairbairn.

In Russia, the earliest full-fledged concepts of training police officers are attributed to the beginning of the Soviet era, when systematized training programs for police officers and the Cheka were first introduced ^[5].

In the 1930s, the young Soviet state faced the need to modernize and introduce new methods of physical training of internal affairs officers. Anatoly Kharlampiev and Vladimir Spiridonov in 1938, on the basis of judo and jiu-jitsu, a type of applied martial arts Sambo was developed, within which methods of psychophysical development were widely used. On the basis of Sambo, most of the psychophysical training activities in the power structures of Russia are carried out to this day ^[1].

In the 1980s, Alexey Kadochnikov, on the basis of Judo and Aikido, developed a complex of special physical training for employees of special purpose units of the USSR. Kadochnikov's system has been criticized due to its questionable effectiveness, but certain techniques are still used in the training of special forces soldiers.

Researchers hold different opinions about the essence of psychophysical training. Someone understands it as a special pedagogical technique aimed at establishing a strong relationship between the psychological and physical condition of a person, and someone understands it as a concept of autogenic training aimed at rapid and effective regeneration of working capacity.

In its practical essence, the process of psychophysical preparation is an intensive functional physical training aimed at something of great physical exertion, the artificial creation of a stressful environment for the human body and psyche, and, as a result, the formation of a high degree of psychophysical endurance. The format of training varies depending on the conditions of service, the nature of operational and service tasks performed by the employee, as well as on the individual view of the instructor.

The most important condition for mastering psychophysical training is the ability to regulate breathing processes, muscle tone and mental state. Special breathing exercises not only increase the stability of the body and oxygen deficiency, but also contribute to the balancing of nervous processes, and, importantly, increase the effectiveness of ideomotor acts (figuratively represented movements and states).

Methods of tactical and fire training in the process of psychophysical education have become widely used in various power structures since the second half of the twentieth century. The impetus for this was the changes in the nature of warfare, which moved from fields and trenches to densely built-up settlements. The founders of this concept were William Fairbairn, a British officer who worked in mandatory Palestine in the 1940s, and Imi Lichtenfeld, a member of the Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. They developed fundamental methods of psychophysical education through fire training. The methods of this concept imply the performance of special sports and tactical shooting exercises in conditions of physical and psychological stress. During the exercises, physical influence can be applied to the cadet, mathematical tasks can be set, as well as shooting exercises can alternate with functional physical complexes ^[3].

Workouts based on strength sports are characterized by the performance of systematic physical complexes for a time or the maximum number of repetitions. In the process of performing these complexes, a significant moral and psychological pressure is exerted on the cadet, which allows him to develop endurance in stressful and extreme situations. This type of training is widely used in the US Marine Corps. The so-called Drill Sergeants act as instructors, who, in addition to physical drill, apply various forms of moral influence to cadets, such as insults, threats, sudden rises of personnel on alarm in the middle of the night, lack of sleep, hunger ^[10].

The importance of organizing psychophysical training in the internal affairs bodies is determined by the need to improve the professional fitness and stress resistance of employees. The degree of psychophysical training directly affects the survival of employees in situations that threaten their life and health. In general, the concept of psychophysical training is very effective in modern realities, since it provides comprehensive professional development of an employee. Also, being a symbiosis of psychological and physical education techniques, it significantly reduces the time required for personnel training.

During psychophysical training , professional qualities such as:

1. Value orientation;

2. A developed system of moral guidelines;

3.      Intensity of motivation;

4.      Intellectual abilities;

5.      Operational and heuristic thinking;

6. Adequacy of self-assessment;

7.      Self-confidence;

8.      Resistance to physical and moral stress;

9.      High level of self-control.

The development of these qualities is directly related to the high quality of work of employees of the internal affairs bodies, and their uniform development and maintenance of the level guarantee comprehensive preparedness, a high degree of stress resistance, and as a result, the preservation of professional fitness and efficiency for a long time ^[4].

Thus, psychophysical training is one of the leading and dynamically developing areas of special professional training of law enforcement officers. Due to the dynamic development of all spheres of public life, it is necessary to constantly adapt employees of internal affairs bodies to stressful situations that arise in the process of performing operational and official tasks in modern realities.

The study, testing and implementation of new and promising methods of psychophysical training can provide comprehensive personal and professional development of an employee, the development of correct moral and value orientations, increase his level of stress resistance, develop operational thinking and ensure a high degree of readiness for emergency and extreme situations.

Educational modeling is one of the main tools of psychophysical training of cadets, it is necessary to reveal it a little deeper.

Thus, educational modeling in psychophysical training, as a rule, is expressed in two interrelated directions:

1. Approximation of external conditions to the conditions of professional actions;

2. Approximation of internal conditions to the conditions of professional actions.

The approximation of the external conditions of classes to the real conditions of professional actions is a reproduction of the external picture of these actions.

This allows the trained specialists to perceive reality not in words, but sensually and to some extent feel like participants in real events. The external picture of the educational situation, similar to the real one, is created by the performance of professional actions, the complication of their tasks, the creation of external difficulties in solving them, the choice of difficult conditions of time, place, illumination, imitation of psychogenic factors, interference, the introduction of opposing forces into the situation, the actual educational use of personal protective equipment, special equipment, weapons ^[7].

The approximation of internal conditions (mental states, experiences, tension of psychological qualities, overcoming psychological difficulties, etc.) is a simulation of artificial stress factors that cadets will have when performing professional actions in difficult conditions (real actions and situations) ^[6].

To do this, it is necessary to saturate classes with difficult tasks, increased responsibility, complex obstacles, time limitation, difficulties in understanding and assessing the situation, elements of risk, danger, suddenness, unusual, rapid changes in the situation, powerful counteraction of the criminal element (which is not engaged in the giveaway game), independence, psychological problems, intensive build-up of difficulties, duration heavy loads, etc.

The methodology of classes is built correctly if both paths are used in interrelation and the necessary proportions for modeling reality. At the same time, efforts are being made to model motivational, cognitive, emotional and volitional phenomena and difficulties in a complex and separately.

Psychophysical preparedness significantly increases the professional skills of an employee. Scientific data and the existing positive experience indicate the need to introduce special tasks, forms and methods of purposeful improvement of psychological preparedness in the system of vocational training ^[9].

Psychophysical training is an important type of professional training in the internal affairs bodies, it is a specially organized, purposeful process of influencing employees to form, develop and activate the necessary qualities that determine the successful, effective performance of operational and service tasks.

Due to the large-scale changes concerning the social structure, the methods of special training of cadets require constant modernization. In this regard, there is a need to improve the methods of psychophysical training as one of the basic elements.

One of these activities may be the use of the experience of organizing horror quests. Since this type of entertainment has an impressive resource for performing a variety of tasks of special training of cadets, such as situational modeling, the development of operational thinking, etc., the use of the format of quest rooms in tactical, special and physical training of cadets will bring special training to a fundamentally new level and significantly increase the efficiency and effectiveness of law enforcement activities.

The quest genre itself, as a kind of interactive game, originated in Russia back in Soviet times, and, technically, was presented in various variations of sports and yard games. A classic example of a game similar to a quest in design was the military sports game "Zarnitsa", extremely common throughout the Soviet Union.

The first, in the modern sense, quest rooms appeared in Russia in 2013, when a group of enthusiasts returned from a trip to Budapest. Hungary, at that time, was one of the leaders in the development of quests in Europe. Inspired by a fundamentally new type of entertainment for themselves, enthusiasts created the association "Claustrophobia" and opened the first quest rooms in Russia ^[2].

Despite the fact that the project was originally intended as a short-term entertainment, the games, thanks to a bright and unusual concept and a strong storyline, have gained wide popularity.

In Russia, in addition to the usual entertainment format, quests are extremely popular as a team building, or as a means of rallying and establishing a favorable psychological climate in the team.

In addition to the organization of classic horror games, there are also specialized team building scenarios in Russia, built on the urgent need for teamwork to win. Since the online format of quests has become widespread, teambuilding quests, in most cases, are carried out on the basis of Internet platforms.

The appearance of quests in Russia, as in the rest of the world, is one of the turns of the development of the entertainment industry. Thanks to a wide resource and comparative accessibility, quests allow you to fully meet the needs of the audience.

In addition, due to the specifics characteristic of Russian quests, in addition to developing logic and stress resistance, they can also be used as a means of popularizing national culture, as a tool for studying history and rallying teams based on familiar and understandable images for everyone.

This practice has the potential to go beyond the entertainment industry. Since, in a number of aspects, quests can show a higher efficiency of psychophysical development than usual practices, its introduction into special training programs becomes a matter of time.

In addition to being allocated to a separate area of general special training, they can also be used in departments, with modeling in the game process of the specifics of the activities of a particular state body.

The process of playing in quest rooms and the special training of police officers have a number of common and characteristic features. As a rule, they are expressed in creating similar conditions for completing tasks for cadets and visitors to quest rooms.

These conditions, in fact, are based on the two above–mentioned modeling directions, namely, modeling of internal and external conditions. The main difference is that educational modeling in the framework of training cadets, as a rule, is built only in one of the directions, whereas horror quests actively combine them.

Due to this, immersion in the gameplay turns out to be as deep as possible. Often, players after completing a quest note a complete loss of connection with reality.

This results in the first advantage of using the experience of quest rooms in the special training of cadets: the creation of a complete scenic and decorative entourage allows the student to fully immerse himself in the simulated situation ^[11].

The cadet will inevitably face the need to solve the task without the ability to suspend modeling, ask the teacher for help, and will have to rely solely on the level of his professional training and the ability to withstand stress, deal with it, methodically and effectively perform operational and service tasks.

Psychophysical stress is a key element of horror quests. To the musical accompaniment and scenery, as a rule, the need to perform tasks in a tight space is added, which additionally creates stress for the players.

Employees of the Department of Internal Affairs, in turn, have to perform tasks on various types of terrain and in various types of premises, including in a confined space and with limited visibility.

This concept of horror quests can be applied in the process of preparation and separately from the scenario complex, without assuming a "frightening" component. For example, it can be expressed in the placement of a cadet in a closed and dark space in order to neutralize conditional criminals located at the location and inspect the premises.

In this situation, a cadet armed with a training weapon, using the skills of tactical-special, fire training, knowing the methods of ensuring personal safety, competently and methodically perform the task without endangering his life.

For employees of the Department of Internal Affairs who find themselves in an extreme and life-threatening situation, such a loss of self-control and the ability to think operationally can become a fatal mistake that will lead not only to failure to perform operational tasks, but also to injury or death of an employee.

The main problem of ensuring the readiness of employees for active counteraction is the impossibility of fully recreating the operational situation at the place of production of procedural actions and operational investigative measures. Practice shows that practicing fighting techniques is not only unable to simulate extreme situations, but also, due to the lack of real motivation from the opponent, excludes any serious opposition.

Among other things, we should focus on the audiovisual component of horror quests. Quest rooms, for the most part, are equipped with a variety of speakers, with the help of which commands are given to players, as well as appropriate musical accompaniment is created. The accompaniment is gloomy and oppressive music, replaced by loud sounds at certain stages of the game ^[8].

The ability to withstand the stress created by ambient noise is also one of the tasks of psychophysical training. Noise reduces concentration, affects psychosomatics.

The unavailability of an ATS officer to a sudden noise can lead to the fact that, having fallen into a stupor, he will completely lose his composure and will be unable not only to complete the task, but also to take shelter in case of fire contact, or simply continue to move. In confined spaces, when working in buildings and dense buildings, constant movement is a key element of survival and operational control of the situation.

Conclusions. Thus, horror quests, due to their content and specificity, are one of the few tools that directly affect the psychophysical state of a person. At the same time, such an impact, as a rule, is of an extreme nature.

The use of horror quests can greatly help in ensuring the psychophysical preparedness of employees to counteract and other extreme situations. Since during the quest games a tense situation is created by all available means, the level of stress experienced by the players is extremely high. In this regard, the involvement of cadets of universities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia to participate in horror quests will allow, at least, to identify the most unstable to stress trainees in order to individualize the process of their psychophysical training.

The prospect of introducing horror quests into the system of psychophysical training of employees, however, still requires serious and long-term study, both in terms of finding common ground of practical aspects and in organizational terms.

Nevertheless, in order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of law enforcement activities, as well as the compliance of cadet training programs with current socio-political trends