Graduate Student Spotlight with Deepali M. Dhruve
Meet Deepali M. Dhruve
Deepali is a graduate student in Clinical Psychology from Irvine, CA. In 2016, she received a Bachelor of Science in anthropology and a minor in psychology from the University of California, Davis. She plans to graduate with a Ph.D. next May.
“I came to MSU due to my research interests and opportunities to engage in studies that were meaningful to the local community. My favorite things about MSU are my peers and the community of people I have built in the university and the Starkville area.”
“My research program, “Examining the Impact of De-escalation Training in Rural Mississippi: Using Simulation to Assess Behavioral Outcomes,” investigates the role of interpersonal interactions on health outcomes. I was interested in doing an intervention for my dissertation, and there seemed to be a need to investigate police-civilian interactions further. Thus, I am validating a de-escalation training aimed at rural law enforcement officers (LEOs) using a behavioral assessment.”
“This study aims to address limitations in the research on de-escalation trainings by testing the efficacy of an adapted crisis intervention team training for rural LEOs. Furthermore, this study seeks to establish initial evidence of validity and reliability in using simulation as a behavioral outcome measure for de-escalation training.”
“My hope is that such standardized actor simulations may pave the path for computer-based simulations, such as virtual reality (VR) simulations, with LEOs. However, before funds and time are invested in VR-simulated assessments, it is necessary to first establish the validity and reliability of standardized actor simulations with LEOs in preventing violence and reducing use-of-force, with those validated simulations laying the groundwork for future VR simulations.”
“Faculty collaboration was integral in developing this project. My mentor, Dr. Michael R. Nadorff, played a crucial role in helping me problem-solve and establish the method and procedure for this project. Ms. Tonya Hays was also integral in developing connections with the MSU theatre program. She was generous with her time and helped me develop the scripts for the simulation scenarios by involving students from her playwriting class. She also made suggestions for student actors and the stage manager who enacted the scenarios.”
“This experience has been the pinnacle of my time at MSU. The opportunity to do community-engaged, interdisciplinary work was a key reason for my coming to MSU. I am very grateful for the opportunity to work with the Starkville PD and Theatre MSU.”