De-Roling from Experiences and Identities in Virtual Worlds

Abstract

Within dramatherapy and psychodrama, the term ‘de-roling’ indicates a set of activities that assist the subjects of therapy in ‘disrobing’ themselves from their fictional characters. Starting from the psychological needs and the therapeutic goals that ‘de-roling’ techniques address in dramatherapy and psychodrama, this text provides a broader understanding of procedures and exercises that define and ease transitional experiences across cultural practices such as religious rituals and spatial design. After this introductory section, we propose a tentative answer as to why game studies and virtual world research largely ignored processes of ‘roling’ and ‘de-roling’ that separate the lived experience of role-play from our everyday sense of the self. The concluding sections argue that de-roling techniques are likely to become more relevant, both academically and in terms of their practical applications, with the growing diffusion of virtual technologies in social practices. The relationships we can establish with ourselves and with our surroundings in digital virtual worlds are, we argue, only partially comparable with similar occurrences in pre-digital practices of subjectification. We propose a perspective according to which the accessibility and immersive phenomenological richness of virtual reality technologies are likely to exacerbate the potentially dissociative effects of virtual reality applications. This text constitutes an initial step towards framing specific socio-technical concerns and starting a timely conversation that binds together dramatherapy, psychodrama, game studies, and the design of digital virtual worlds.

Online Psychodrama and Action Methods: Theories and Practices

“…After a comprehensive review of online psychotherapy, Riva (2005) states that VR will increasingly be part of psychology, and it needs to be defined broadly. Moreover, for Gualeni et al (2017), techniques that use characters and scenes for psychotherapy are likely to become more relevant with the increasing diffusion of virtual technologies in social practices.…”

Marginalized Urban Indigenous Youth and the Virtual World of Second Life: Understanding the Past and Building a Hopeful Future

“…With the benefit of hindsight, the redesign of the Urban Hope sim was completed by a wellmeaning person who genuinely wanted to help but did not have a background in education and curriculum design. The pitfalls of this situation were pointed out in a 2009 article on curricular interventions in the virtual world (Lim, 2009). The road surrounding the sim, and the motorcycles proved to be a distraction from the intended learning objectives.…”

“…11, No. 3 Gualeni, Vella, & Harrington, 2017). However, before participants could engage with the past, creating an engaging orientation process that developed SL operational skills was necessary.…”

“…With each exploratory journey, initial frustration transitioned into a sense of being present in the world. The sense of presence, of actually being in the virtual world while being physically in another location developed through exploratory journeys to various locations and communities in Second Life (Kim, 2009) and deepened into co-presence through interaction with other avatars (Dalgarno & Lee, 2010;Gualeni, Vella & Harrington, 2017;Kim, 2009;Loke, 2015;Mennecke et al 2011). The feeling of being present in the virtual world, the fluidity of identity (Ratts, 2017) and the ability to transport one's self to the past, present or future created enthusiasm to construct a 3D educational site designed to meet the educational needs of marginalized urban Indigenous youth.…”

“…On the Negan Tapeh sim participants explored the sim and interacted with cultural artifacts (Lim, 2009).…”