Abstract
In the United States, the phenomenon of mass incarceration has created a public health crisis. One strategy for addressing this crisis involves developing a correctional agency—academic institution partnership tasked with augmenting the quality and quantity of evidence-based healthcare delivered in state prisons and attracting a greater number of health professionals to the field of correctional health research. Using a Connecticut correctional agency—academic institution partnership as a case example, the present paper examines some of the key challenges encountered over the course of a 3-year capacity-building initiative. Particular attention is given to agency and institution characteristics both at the structural level and in terms of divergent stakeholder perspectives. The authors find that future partnership development work in this area will likely benefit from close attention to predictable sources of temporal variation in agency capability to advance project-related aims.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abrams C, Berg Z (2010) Workforce cross training: a re-emerging trend in tough times. J Workplace Learn 22(8):522–529
Anderson MS, Ronning EA, De Vries R, Martinson BC (2007) The perverse effects of competition on scientists’ work and relationships. Sci Eng Ethics 13:437–461
Argyris C, Schön D (1978) Organizational learning: a theory of action perspective. Addison Wesley, Reading
Ashforth BE, Lee RT (1990) Defensive behavior in organizations: a preliminary model. Hum Relat 43(7):621–648
Bak P, Tang C, Wiesenfeld K (1987) Self-organized criticality: an explanation of 1/f noise. Phys Rev Let 59(4):381–384
Beer M, Eisenstat RA (2000) The silent killers of strategy implementation and learning. Sloan Manag Rev 41(4):29–40
Boghossian P, Glavin M, O’Connor T, Boyer J, Conway D (2012) Prisons, community partnerships, and academia: sustainable programs and community needs. Fed Prob 76(1):30–34
Boyne GA, Meier KJ (2009) Environmental turbulence, organizational stability, and public service performance. Admin Soc 40:799–824
Camisón C, Fóres B (2010) Knowledge absorptive capacity: new insights for its conceptualization and measurement. J Bus Res 63:707–715
Dallaire DH (2007) Children with incarcerated mothers: developmental outcomes, special challenges and recommendations. J Appl Dev Psychol 28:15–24
De Viggiani N (2007) Unhealthy prisons: exploring structural determinants of prison health. Socio Health Illn 29(1):115–135
Deming WE (1975) The logic of evaluation. In: Struening EL, Guttentag M (eds) Handbook of evaluation research. Sage, Beverly Hills, CA, pp 53–68
Dumont DM, Brockmann B, Dickman S, Alexander N, Rich JD (2012) Public health and the epidemic of incarceration. Annu Rev Pub Health 33:325–339
Dumont DM, Allen SA, Brockmann BW, Alexander NE, Rich JD (2013) Incarceration, community health, and racial disparities. J Health Care Poor Underserved 24(1):78–88
Feldman MS (2010) Managing the organization of the future. Pub Admin Rev 70(Suppl. s1):s159–s163
Fellner J (2009) Race, drugs, and law enforcement in the United States. Stanf Law Pol Rev 20(2):257–291
Flicker S, Travers R, Guta A, McDonald S, Meagher A (2007) Ethical dilemmas in community-based participatory research: recommendations for institutional review boards. J Urban Health 84(4):478–493
Flood RL (2010) The relationship of ‘systems thinking’ to action research. Syst Pract Act Res 23:269–284
Freeman RM (1999) Correctional organization and management: public policy challenges, behavior, and structure. Butterworth Heinemann, Boston
Freudenberg N (2007) Health research behind bars: a brief guide to research in jails and prisons. In: Greifinger RB (ed) Public health behind bars: from prisons to communities. Springer, New York, pp 415–432
Friesl M, Sackmann SA (2011) Knowledge sharing in new organizational entities: the impact of hierarchy, organizational context, micro-politics and suspicion. Cross Cult Manag 18(1):71–86
Garland D (2001) Introduction. In: Garland D (ed) Mass imprisonment: social causes and consequences. Sage, Thousand Oaks, pp 1–3
Gates ML, Bradford RK (2015) The impact of incarceration on obesity: are prisoners with chronic diseases becoming overweight and obese during their confinement? J Obes 532468:1–7. doi:10.1155/2015/532468
Gelman A, Fagan J, Kiss A (2007) An analysis of the New York City Police Department’s “Stop and Frisk” policy in the context of claims of racial bias. J Am Stat Assoc 102(479):813–823
Gittell JH (2002) Coordinating mechanisms in care provider groups: relational coordination as a mediator and input uncertainty as a moderator of performance effects. Manag Sci 48(11):1408–1426
Grote G (2007) Understanding and assessing safety culture through the lens of organizational management of uncertainty. Saf Sci 45:637–652
Head BW, Alford J (2013) Wicked problems: implications for public policy and management. Admin Soc. Article ID 0095399713481601
Helfat CE, Winter SG (2011) Untangling dynamic and operational capabilities: strategies for the (n)ever-changing world. Strateg Manag J 32:1243–1250
Horowitz CR, Robinson M, Seifer S (2009) Community-based participatory research from the margin to the mainstream: are researchers prepared? Circulation 119:2633–2642
Hou Y, Moynihan DP (2008) The case for countercyclical fiscal capacity. J Pub Adm Res Theory 18:139–159
Israel BA, Coombe CM, Cheezum RR, Schulz AJ, McGranaghan RJ, Lichtenstein R, Reyes AG, Clement J, Burris A (2010) Community-based participatory research: a capacity-building approach for policy advocacy aimed at eliminating health disparities. Am J Public Health 100:2094–2102
Jenks CJ (2011) Transcribing talk and interaction. John Benjamins, Amsterdam
Johnson RC, Raphael S (2009) The effects of male incarceration dynamics on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome infection rates among African American women and men. J Law Econ 52(2):251–293
Josefsson KA, Kammerlind A-SC, Sund-Levander M (2012) Evidence-based practice in a multiprofessional context. Int J Evid Based Healthc 10:117–125
Kanter RM (1983) The change masters: innovation for productivity in the American corporation. Simon & Schuster, New York
Kilbourne AM, Neumann MS, Waxmonsky J, Bauer MS, Kim HM, Pincus HA, Thomas M (2012) Evidence-based implementation: the role of sustained community-based practice and research partnerships. Psychiatr Serv 63(3):205–207
Koschmann MA, Kuhn TR, Pfarrar MD (2012) A communicative framework of value in cross-sector partnerships. Acad Manag Rev 37(3):332–354
Lawrence M, Goodwin P, O’Connor M, Onkal D (2006) Judgmental forecasting: a review of progress over the last 25 years. Int J Forecasting 22:493–518
Lewin K (1946) Action research and minority problems. J Soc Issues 2(4):34–46
McLanahan S (2009) Fragile families and the reproduction of poverty. Ann Am Acad Pol Soc Sci 621(1):111–131
Montero-Márin J, Skapinakis P, Araya R, Gili M, García-Campayo J (2011) Towards a brief definition of burnout syndrome by subtypes: development of the Burnout Clinical Subtypes Questionnaire (BSCQ-12). Health Qual Life Outcomes 9:74–86
National Institute of Corrections (2012) Culture and change management: using APEX to facilitate organizational change. U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC. http://nicic.gov/Library/025300. Accessed 28 Aug 2014
National Institutes of Health (2015) Strategic plans and visions. report.nih.gov/strategicplans/. Accessed 21 April 2015
Pawson R (2013) The science of evaluation: a realist manifesto. Sage, Los Angeles
Pew Center on the States (2008) One in 100: behind bars in America 2008. www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/0001/01/01/one-in-100. Accessed 28 Aug 2014
Ramamoorthy N, Flood PC, Slattery T, Sardessai R (2005) Determinants of innovative work behaviour: development and test of an integrated model. Creativity Innov Manag 14(2):142–150
Rawley E (2010) Diversification, coordination costs, and organizational rigidity: evidence from microdata. Strateg Manag J 31:873–891
Reason J, Parker D, Lawton R (1998) Organizational controls and safety: the varieties of rule-related behaviour. J Occup Org Psychol 71:289–304
Rich JD, Chandler R, Williams BA, Dumont D, Wang EA, Taxman FS, Allen SA et al (2014) How health care reform can transform the health of criminal justice-involved individuals. Health Aff 33(3):462–467
Ridgeway G, MacDonald JM (2009) Doubly robust internal benchmarking and false discovery rates for detecting racial bias in police stops. J Am Stat Assoc 104(486):661–668
Schaef AW, Fassel D (1988) The Addictive Organization: why we overwork, cover up, pick up the pieces, please the boss, and perpetuate sick organizations. HarperCollins, New York
Schell SF, Luke DA, Schooley MW, Elliot MB, Herbers SH, Mueller NB, Bunger AC (2013) Public health program capacity for sustainability: a new framework. Implement Sci 8:1–9
Schillemans T (2011) Does horizontal accountability work? Evaluating potential remedies for the accountability deficit of agencies. Admin Soy 43(4):387–416
Schneider B, Ehrhart MG, Macey WH (2013) Organizational climate and culture. Annu Rev Psychol 64:361–388
Schnittker J, Massoglia M, Uggen C (2011) Incarceration and the health of the African American Community. Du Bois Rev 8(1):1–9
Schurz G (2008) Patterns of abduction. Synthese 164:201–234
Simon HA (1962) The architecture of complexity. Proc Am Philos Soc 106(6):467–482
Sosin MR, Smith SR, Hilton T, Jordan LP (2010) Temporary crises and priority changes: the case of state substance abuse systems. J Pub Admin Res Theory 20:539–575
Sutton MY, Jones RL, Wolitski RJ, Cleveland JC, Dean HD, Fenton KA (2009) A review of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s response to the HIV/AIDS crisis among blacks in the United States, 1981-2009. Am J Public Health 99:s351–s359
Tierney WM, Oppenheimer CC, Hudson BL, Finn A, Hickner JM, Lanier D, Gaylin DS (2007) A national survey of primary care practice-based research networks. Ann Fam Med 5(3):242–250
Ting MM (2000) Organizational capacity. J Law Econ Org 27(2):245–271
Trochim W, Kane M (2005) Concept mapping: an introduction to structured conceptualization in health care. Int J Qual Health Care 17(3):187–191
Van der Heijden K (2005) Scenarios: the art of strategic conversation, 2nd edn. Wiley, New York
Wakai S, Shelton D, Trestman RL, Kesten K (2009) Conducting research in corrections: challenges and solutions. Behav Sci Law 27(5):743–752
Wang EA, Clemens SH, Shavit S, Sanders R, Kessell E, Kushel MB (2012) Engaging individuals recently released from prison into primary care: a randomized trial. Am J Public Health 102(9):e22–e29
Wang EA, Wang Y, Krumholz HM (2013) A high risk of hospitalization following release from correctional facilities in Medicare beneficiaries: a retrospective matched cohort study, 2002 to 2010. JAMA Intern Med 173(17):1621–1628
Western B, Muller C (2013) Mass incarceration, macrosociology, and the poor. Ann Am Acad Polit Soc Sci 647:166–188
Wolitski RJ (2006) Relative efficacy of a multisession sexual risk-reduction intervention for young men released from prisons in 4 states. Am J Public Health 96:1854–1861
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Barta, W.D., Shelton, D., Cepelak, C. et al. Promoting a Sustainable Academic–Correctional Health Partnership: Lessons for Systemic Action Research. Syst Pract Action Res 29, 27–50 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-015-9351-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-015-9351-6