Researcher–practitioner partnerships: a case of the development of a long-term collaborative project between a university and a criminal justice agency

Abstract

This paper describes the genesis, development, unanticipated complications, and short- and long-term value of a researcher–practitioner partnership between the Florida Department of Corrections and the Florida State University College of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Collaborations between criminal justice agencies and researchers are infrequent and, we argue, should be encouraged as a means to generate quality policy-relevant research and engender mutually beneficial relationships between researchers and practitioners. This results from the reality that practitioner agencies have a strong desire and need for quality empirical research to inform their policies and practices, have in-depth knowledge of their programs, and massive amounts of data. However, agencies are not funded adequately to devote dedicated resources to complex and time-consuming research. In contrast, non-practitioners such as universities have the expertise and ability to devote considerable dedicated time to conducting comprehensive research important to agencies and policy-makers with the benefit of independence from the agenda of an agency. We use our own experiences forming and maintaining a successful partnership through a grant by the National Institute of Justice to inform future partnerships of the many benefits of such collaborations as well as some potential obstacles that were encountered along the way.