Research and Development Network: Challenges in Conducting Research in Corrections

Kevin Wright PhD

Director, Arizona State University Center for Correctional Solutions, Arizona State University, United States

Kevin A. Wright is an associate professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice and director of the Center for Correctional Solutions at Arizona State University. He earned his Ph.D. in criminal justice from Washington State University in 2010. His work focuses on enhancing the lives of people living and working in the correctional system through research, education, and community engagement. Dr. Wright 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—a learning community of faculty, students, and people who are incarcerated. He was awarded the Washington State University Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology Distinguished Alumni Award in 2022, the American Society of Criminology Teaching Award in 2020, and the Arizona State University Faculty Women's Association Outstanding Faculty Mentor in 2019. Dr. Wright is co-author, alongside a man incarcerated for life, of the book Imprisoned Minds: Lost Boys, Trapped Men, and Solutions from Within the Prison (Rutgers University Press, 2025).

Dr Danielle Rudes

Professor, Sam Houston State University, United States

Danielle S. Rudes is a Professor of Criminal Justice & Criminology at Sam Houston State University (Texas, USA). She is Deputy Director of the Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE!) and a former Fellow with the Bureau of Justice Assistance focusing on Enhancing Correctional Spaces and Cultures. Dr. Rudes is an expert qualitative researcher working with correctional agencies for over 25 years. Dr. Rudes has a broad grant portfolio with current funding from the National Institute of Drug Abuse as Multiple Principal Investigator on the Justice Community Overdose Innovation Network (JCOIN). Her book, Surviving Solitary, examines living and working in restricted housing units.

Dr Ashley Batastini

Associate Professor, Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia

Ashley Batastini is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science at Swinburne University of Technology. Her work focuses on developing novel intervention strategies for higher-risk populations, improving access to appropriate interventions at various stages of criminal legal involvement, and addressing systemic factors within the corrections setting. Dr. Batastini is a past recipient of the Early Career Achievement Award given by Division 18 of the American Psychological Association and the Saleem Shah Early Career Achievement award jointly given by Division 41 (The American Psychology-Law Society) and the American Academy of Forensic Psychology. She is also a registered psychologist in Australia.

Prof Devon Polaschek

Director of NZ Institute Security Crime Science/Psychology Professor, University of Waikato, New Zealand

Devon Polaschek is a clinical psychologist, professor in Te Kura Whatu Oho Mauri School of Psychological and Social Sciences and Te Puna Haumaru Centre for Security and Crime Science, at The University of Waikato. Her research interests include risk assessment, understanding and preventing violent and sexual reoffending, family violence, psychopathy, imprisonment, desistance, reintegration and parole. She is the author of more than 150 journal articles, book chapters and government reports, a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, a former Fulbright Scholar and a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to forensic psychology.

Dr. Jordan Hyatt

Associate Professor, Drexel University, USA

Jordan M. Hyatt, JD PhD, is a Professor of Criminology in the College of Arts and Sciences and of Law in the Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Drexel University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA). There, he is the Director of the Center for Public Policy and of the Justice Collaborative.  He is the co-lead of the Scandinavian Prison Project and a 2025-2026 American-Scandinavian Foundation fellow, conducting research on, and working within, the correctional systems in Norway and Sweden.

Helen Wakeling

Managing partner, KTA Research and Consulting LLP, United Kingdom

Helen Wakeling is Professor of Applied Research in Forensic Psychology at Cardiff Metropolitan University. She is a Chartered Research Psychologist and Evidence Based Practice specialist with over 22 years’ experience in the UK HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). During her time in HMPPS she led on research around sexual offending, risk assessment, desistance and the development and evaluation of interventions and psychometrics, alongside national leadership of programme targeting and assessment processes; her PhD on the predictive validity of psychometric assessments shaped the future use of these tools within HMPPS. Helen later served as an Evidence Lead, conducting rigorous research and translating evidence into practical guidance for prisons, probation, youth custody, and policymakers across UK Government. Now, as a founding partner of Knowledge to Action, she continues to conduct research for different organisations across Criminal Justice, including the Ministry of Justice, HMI Probation, the Welsh Government, the Youth Custody Service, and voluntary sector organisations. Helen has published more than 60 peer reviewed papers across qualitative, quantitative, and experimental methodologies, and has particular interest in prison culture, desistance from crime, young adults, substance misuse in prisons, psychosocial maturity, neurodiversity, sexual offending, procedural justice, and staff wellbeing and resilience.