The
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 ( ftaxman@gmu.edu
) or Dr. Danielle Rudes ( drudes@gmu.edu
) with any questions.