The Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE!) in the Department
of Criminology, Law & Society (CLS) at George Mason University has a
number of exciting research and policy relevant work. These projects
seek to increase our knowledge about “what works” and how to change
organizations while developing theoretically relevant interventions that
translate science into practice. We are interested in hiring one or more
Graduate Student Researchers (GRAs) to assist with future data
collection and analysis on these projects. Here is a partial list of our available studies that students
can work with us on:
1. Advancing knowledge about juvenile justice organizations and using evidence-based
practices. Organizational change is difficult. In the first phase of the project, we conducted
an experiment to determine which change strategy had the greatest impact on youth
outcomes. The experiment found that a social network change model was more effective than
dissemination models. In the next phase of the study, the agency will import the social
network model. We will conduct organizational surveys of staff and administrators to monitor
implementation. The main research strategies during this phase, however, include
observations, focus groups, and interviews. Additionally, we will train GRAs for this project
to use Atlas.ti (qualitative software) for data coding and analysis.
2. Experiments to advance reentry programming. Working with MDRC (a research firm),
this study involves testing a theoretical reentry model. We will implement the experiment in
six jurisdictions. The goal of the DFE project is to obtain rigorous evidence on the
effectiveness of a carefully designed model that aims to promote successful transitions from
prison to the community. The project will address a critical gap in the literature because
although the prisoner reentry issue has attracted substantial attention and funding in recent
years, very little is known about the components of effective reentry programs. That is, it is
unknown what in-prison activities are best able to prepare offenders for the return to the
community, what works best to stabilize people after release, and what long-term efforts are
needed to help former prisoners become productive citizens. The project involves an
implementation study to understand how the reentry program is put into place (measuring
fidelity) and how effective the program is (measuring system and client outcomes). Students
will be involved in designing and developing instruments, conducting site visits, interviewing
offenders and staff, working on data collection procedures, and analyzing data.
3. Experiment to examine how health outcomes impact recidivism outcomes. Working with
Yale University, ACE! researchers will conduct an experiment to assess how a medically
assisted treatment (buprenhorine) affects health and justice outcomes of offenders. This will
be a randomized block experiment with stratification based on legal status. The intervention
involves cognitive-behavioral therapy with medically assisted treatments. The four-year study
will join data from health and justice files to examine the trajectory of offenders noting how
health affects criminal justice status. The study site is in Washington, DC. GRAs will be
involved in all aspects of the project including interviewing offenders, collecting data,
analyzing data, and writing papers. The study will involve integrating geographical data to
understand how location affects outcomes. The study also models how criminal justice
involvement affects employment and health outcomes.
4. Researching courtroom work group teams within problem solving courts. This study
uses survey, observational and interview techniques to gather data from key courtroom work
group players within problem-solving courts in various sites throughout the U.S. Researchers
travel to various courts and/or conduct interviews via telephone to collect data on how these
key justice actors are implementing a new incentive & sanction approach to dealing with
offenders. While individual court work group members all experience this change differently,
their combined experiences and perspectives present unique patterns that help explain the
potential effect roles, morality, inter-organizational collaboration, discretionary decision
making and culture have on organizational change processes.
5. Examining organizational change with in reentry institutions. This project is currently in
its third year of data collection in several adult, reentry prison facilities. These institutions
recently began a transformation process from a prior work-release model to a reentry model.
In this change, the primary emphasis of the staff and management team also shifted to
incorporate a more therapeutic (rehabilitation-focused) approach to working with inmates.
We are interested in hiring additional GRAs for this project to conduct prolonged, intense
ethnographic observation and interviewing within these facilities. Additionally, we will train
GRAs on this project to use Atlas.ti (qualitative software) for data coding, analysis. GRAs
will be included in writing articles and/or chapters for publication based on this work.
6. Prisoner reentry from both sides of the street level. The project examines the
organizational experiences and related social processes that individuals employed or
supervised by state-level prisons and parole/probation departments encounter throughout
statewide reentry reform. Guided by the broad question—How do individuals and
organizations understand and negotiate change?—this research uses a multifaceted,
intensive, longitudinal approach for studying the organizational actors and clients of criminal
justice agencies in the U.S. This in-depth ethnographic research project explores the
processes that both brokers and users of correctional services engage within the social and
organizational realities of the current economic and political climate. The research
incorporate an array of qualitative data gathering techniques including: non-participant
observation, conversational and life history interviews, and subject-driven narrative collection
(via text, email, photos) over a three-and-a-half year period building a large database that
details the ways correctional officers, probation and parole officers and former inmates
understand and negotiate changes both within and outside the institutional environment. This
project seeks one to two GRAs for all phases of data collection, analysis and writing.
7. RNR Simulation Model. The Risk-Needs-Responsivity model is a simulation tool that
projects the impact of treatment program placement on offender outcomes and system
outcomes (costs, public safety). The RNR model is built on the “evidence-based practices”
literature. It cumulates into a tool usable for: 1) case managers who want to know the best
options for a particular offender; 2) the local or state correctional agency(s) that want to know
what configuration of programming/controls are useful to reduce recidivism and to reduce
costs; and 3) policy-makers, budget offices, and a variety of other stakeholders that desire to
engage in a series of “what if” analyses. The web site needs to be easy to navigate, and to
provide tools that could be useful for the variety of audiences. This year we will validate the
model including interviews with agencies, analysis of data sets, and observing programs.
8. RNR eLearning Tool. This study is designed to fill a critical gap regarding the proliferation
of evidence-based information about risk-needs screening and assessment tools in the last
decade has made this a favorite topic. While information is available to increase knowledge
about risk-needs assessment tools, the same is not true for increasing the skills of personnel in
the criminal justice system in the use of this knowledge. The use of risk-needs tools in
decision-making requires the ability to understand how to use the information in ways that
are not trained in law school (judges), judge school, correctional academies, continuing
education, or other professional development tracks. This project is designed to do the
following: increase declarative knowledge (“what,” facts, meaning of terms); procedural
knowledge (“how”); and strategic knowledge (when to apply the technique) for professionals
in a manner that involves cognitive, interpersonal, and psychomotor skills or tasks and to
evaluate its impact on outcomes in select probation settings. The project will develop: 1)
knowledge and skill-based competency measures to complement the use of EBPs in
correctional settings (i.e., motivational enhancement, treatment processes, contingency
management, and working alliance skills in real world scenarios); 2) web-based tools to teach
new skills and measure (through online competency tests) knowledge and skill acquisition;
and 3) an interactive (virtual) simulation to provide the user with feedback and “expert
advice.” The interactive training boosters are designed to help criminal justice staff and
treatment counselors: 1) understand the EBPs with an emphasis on mechanisms that facilitate
offender change processes; 2) practice evidence-based treatments and their associated skills
in decision making choices; and 3) receive feedback during practice sessions to improve their
intuitive use of evidence-based practice tools in real operational decisions. GRAs will work
on all aspects of the study.
These are just a few of our studies. We look forward to having you join our research team.
Contact Dr. Faye Taxman ([email protected]) or Dr. Danielle Rudes ([email protected]) with
any questions.