Incorporating participatory methods can make research more meaningful to the people it seeks to serve. It can also enrich research by generating new questions, suggesting further analyses, uncovering important lessons and considerations, and clearly and accessibly disseminating the findings to researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and the individuals and communities most directly affected by the research.
With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Policies for Action program, New Jersey Criminal Justice Reform Advancing Racial Equity (NJ CARE) study assesses the impact of the state’s 2017 pretrial reforms on racial equity. The reforms in New Jersey eliminated cash bail, introduced the use of a risk assessment tool, created options for pretrial monitoring, and implemented speedy trial laws. The study assesses impacts on disparities among different racial groups at key decision points in the pretrial process. Through interviews, it also aims to understand how people who’ve had a criminal court case in New Jersey or who work in New Jersey’s criminal justice system characterize racial equity within the pretrial process and what changes they believe are needed to make it more equitable. The project uses participatory methods to illuminate and center people’s experiences in the criminal justice system, especially as they relate to effects on their physical and mental health and well-being. (author abstract)