And you know, we’re on each other’s team: Lessons from an in-depth analysis of researcher–practitioner partnerships in criminal justice research

ABSTRACT

Researcher–practitioner partnerships (RPPs) bring together multiple perspectives to create more holistic, contextually grounded, and arguably better criminal justice solutions. However, a better understanding of how these partnerships operate and what contributes to success is needed, particularly for new and emerging scholars who may be inexperienced in creating and sustaining RPPs. Previous research has explored the process of creating RPPs, but much of this research is limited by singular partnerships or anecdotal experiences. Further, this research does not account for the myriad of RPP types within the criminal justice field. Our study involves an analysis of 20 years of National Institute of Justice-funded RPPs in the United States. Our findings identify clear themes from this extensive review of the literature and provide empirically based lessons learned for RPPs. As such, this study is designed to support new and established researchers with guidance on how to better create and maintain RPPs.

KEYWORDS:

• Researcher–practitioner partnership
• criminal justice partnerships
• grey literature
• national institute of justice
• collaboration

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/01924036.2023.2202868.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tarah Hodgkinson

Dr. Tarah Hodgkinson is an assistant professor in the department of Criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada.

Lacey Schaefer

Dr. Lacey Shaefer is a senior lecturer in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Griffith University in Australia. Niamh Harte is a civilian member of the Victoria Police and completed her degree in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Griffith University in Australia.

Nicola Pearson

Nicola Pearson completed her degree in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Griffith University in Australia. Natasha Lonergan completed her degree in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Griffith University in Australia.

Claire Barber

Claire Barber completed her degree in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Griffith University in Australia.