Kevin Wright
Kevin Wright is an associate professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Director of the Center for Correctional Solutions. His work focuses on enhancing the lives of those living and working in the correctional system through research, education, and community engagement. His published research on these topics has appeared in Justice Quarterly, Criminology & Public Policy, and Journal of Offender Rehabilitation. He developed and taught the first Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program class in the state of Arizona and is a co-founder of the Arizona Transformation Project. The College of Public Service and Community Solutions named him its Emerging Community Solutions Scholar in 2015, he is a member of peerLA Cohort V of ASU Leadership Academy, and ASU's Committee on Campus Inclusion awarded him with their Catalyst Award for 2017.
Address: School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Arizona State University
411 N. Central Ave. Ste. 600
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Address: School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Arizona State University
411 N. Central Ave. Ste. 600
Phoenix, AZ 85004
less
InterestsView All (31)
Uploads
Publications
people, instead of on people. While this collaborative approach has been
used across a range of disciplines, criminology has been slow to adopt the
tenets of PAR. The current article seeks to reinvigorate the discussion of
PAR as a research methodology within corrections. We highlight the
success of our own project, where five incarcerated interviewers conducted
over 400 interviews within the Arizona Department of
Corrections. We describe the project—how we set it up, our perceived
benefits, and our challenges—and we conclude with some thoughts on
how PAR can be expanded in corrections specifically and in criminal
justice in general. Our broader purpose is to highlight an innovative
methodology to ensure conversations advance research that is translated
into meaningful action.
Methods: Data were drawn from the Arizona Prison Visitation Project, which includes information on 687 visitors nested within 227 inmates. Latent class analysis and hierarchical generalized linear models were used to carry out these objectives.
Results: Both supportive and unsupportive visitors were identified. Individuals who were female, younger, had a higher number of previous incarcerations, and those visited by parents or partners were more likely to have supportive visitors. Inmates with visitors characterized as supportive had an increased expectation of instrumental support available upon release.
Conclusions: Social support theory furthers understanding of visitation and its effects and provides useful directions for policy and practice.
of criminological theory, yet progression in the scientific study of crime has
largely been viewed as a distinctly quantitative endeavor. In the process, much of
the theoretical depth and precision supplied by earlier methods of criminological
knowledge production have been sacrificed. The current work argues for a return to
our criminological roots by supplementing quantitative analyses with the qualitative
inspection of individual cases. We provide a specific example of a literature (i.e.,
criminal specialization/versatility) that has become increasingly quantitative and could
benefit from the use of the proposed approach. We conclude by offering additional
areas of research that might be advanced by our framework presented here.
people, instead of on people. While this collaborative approach has been
used across a range of disciplines, criminology has been slow to adopt the
tenets of PAR. The current article seeks to reinvigorate the discussion of
PAR as a research methodology within corrections. We highlight the
success of our own project, where five incarcerated interviewers conducted
over 400 interviews within the Arizona Department of
Corrections. We describe the project—how we set it up, our perceived
benefits, and our challenges—and we conclude with some thoughts on
how PAR can be expanded in corrections specifically and in criminal
justice in general. Our broader purpose is to highlight an innovative
methodology to ensure conversations advance research that is translated
into meaningful action.
Methods: Data were drawn from the Arizona Prison Visitation Project, which includes information on 687 visitors nested within 227 inmates. Latent class analysis and hierarchical generalized linear models were used to carry out these objectives.
Results: Both supportive and unsupportive visitors were identified. Individuals who were female, younger, had a higher number of previous incarcerations, and those visited by parents or partners were more likely to have supportive visitors. Inmates with visitors characterized as supportive had an increased expectation of instrumental support available upon release.
Conclusions: Social support theory furthers understanding of visitation and its effects and provides useful directions for policy and practice.
of criminological theory, yet progression in the scientific study of crime has
largely been viewed as a distinctly quantitative endeavor. In the process, much of
the theoretical depth and precision supplied by earlier methods of criminological
knowledge production have been sacrificed. The current work argues for a return to
our criminological roots by supplementing quantitative analyses with the qualitative
inspection of individual cases. We provide a specific example of a literature (i.e.,
criminal specialization/versatility) that has become increasingly quantitative and could
benefit from the use of the proposed approach. We conclude by offering additional
areas of research that might be advanced by our framework presented here.