Family Justice applies participatory action research to evaluate and continually develop our training and technical assistance projects and improve practices at our direct-service learning center in Brooklyn. Participatory action research is a democratic approach to collaboration among the researcher, research subjects, and other stakeholders. Ideally, this learning process results in knowledge that leads to change. This approach integrates theory and practice; research is a tool that improves service delivery and helps community-based organizations and government agencies become more effective and efficient.
Training and technical assistance projects at Family Justice draw on the expertise of staff at a partner agency or organization, as well as the perspectives of individuals who are involved in the justice system and of their family members. Training partners and families not only provide information, but help drive the process, from assisting in the development of research questions to assessing possible methods of gathering information to collecting data. Researchers elicit partners' and families' insights through surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, site observations, and participation in diagonal work groups. The information gathered provides an illustrative context for policy enhancements and staff development opportunities at each site. Most important, partners and families are often in the best position to apply research and evaluation findings.
Participatory action research promotes ownership of organizational learning and changes by staff at many levels within the partnering agency or organization. To promote sustainability, changes introduced must be institutionalized. Cultural shifts in practices are therefore reflected in and supported by broader policies and procedures. Family Justice tailors training and technical assistance to the conditions, needs, and possibilities of a particular site; changes are not jarring or imposed externally, but flow naturally from sources within the partner organization, allowing these changes to be incorporated more easily.
To highlight Family Justice's use of participatory action research, we have published the second brief in our Research In Action series; click here to read about innovative work by California's Division of Juvenile justice.
To read the first Research In Action brief, about a reentry tool called the Relational Inquiry Tool, click here.