Roundtable: How to Conduct Research with Correctional Populations

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

While many criminologists study offenders, offending, and its consequences, fewer actually journey into the correctional world. Over the years, the panelists have been actively involved in research with offenders and the people who attempt to control them through the correctional system. Along the way, we have learned for ourselves many valuable – and sometimes painful – lessons. Sometimes we learned them through trial and error and other times we learned from researchers more experienced than we were. These are the kind of lessons that are generally absent from textbooks and graduate-level courses – the kind of lessons (or stories) that are often shared among scholars after hours over coffee or cocktails. The purpose of this roundtable is to share our lessons in the hopes of equipping others with the knowledge we have accumulated in our experiences. We hope this panel will encourage more people to do this kind of research by making it more approachable with fewer headaches.

Sub Unit

• Area XIII: Roundtable Sessions

Division of Special Interest

• Divisions of Special Interest / Division on Corrections & Sentencing

Chair

• Kate Fox, Arizona State University

Discussants

• Jodi Lane, University of Florida

• Susan Turner, University of California, Irvine

• John Wooldredge, University of Cincinnati

• Pamela K Lattimore, RTI International

• Benjamin Steiner, University of Nebraska at Omaha