Going Walk-About: Implementing Community-Based Action Research Methods with Correctional Staff

• In Event: Community-Engaged Methods in a Prison Setting: Lessons from the Prison Research & Innovation Initiative

Abstract

Correctional Staff are key actors in the operation of prison systems. A large body of research focuses on workplace perceptions and attitudes among correctional staff, but much of the literature on correctional staff relies on data that is collected and then interpreted by those outside the cultural milieu from which the data came. Attention in the field toward correctional staff has grown recently and led to a call for more innovative research on ways to study and improve correctional culture and environment for prison staff. This presentation discusses the process of conducting a Participatory Action Research (PAR) based study with correctional staff during a national staff storage and COVID-19 pandemic. We discuss challenges, innovations, and trust and legitimacy among a typically distrusting population was developed by regularly walking the institution and talking with staff in the course of their daily routine.

Authors

• Daniel OConnell, Center for Drug and Health Studies, University of Delaware

• Emalie Rell, University of Delaware

• Christy Visher, University of Delaware

• Darryl L. Chambers, University of Delaware