This article discusses the challenges, benefits, and lessons learned in the trenches of constructing a collaborative study with women who are in and transitioning out of prison. It describes five areas for negotiating different cultures in the research enterprise: the funding sponsor, the correctional institution and its multiple facilities, the university and its procedures for protecting human participants, the inmates/participants, and the communities to which the inmates return. Building trust and relationships across these multiple cultures is necessary to implement studies that can provide a foundation for developing restorative policies and practices.
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