Shelving Justice: The Discovery of Thousands of Untested Rape Kits in Detroit

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Campbell ◽  
Jessica Shaw ◽  
Giannina Fehler–Cabral
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Police Department ◽  
State Level ◽  
Forensic Sciences ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Victim Advocacy ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Rape Kits

In August 2009, approximately 11,000 sexual assault kits (SAKs; “rape kits”) were found in a Detroit police department storage facility, the vast majority of which had never been tested for DNA evidence. To address this problem, a multidisciplinary action research project was formed to bring together researchers and practitioners from law enforcement, prosecution, forensic sciences, medicine/nursing, and victim advocacy to develop evidence–based response strategies. In this paper, we will draw upon qualitative interviews with Detroit stakeholders, archival records, and ethnographic observations to examine the events surrounding the discovery of the rape kits and why police personnel did not view the accumulation of so many untested SAKs as a problem. Over the course of this three–year action research project, Detroit stakeholders worked together to enact local– and state–level reforms to test these kits and to prevent this problem from happening again.

Exploring the Fourth Order

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barend KLITSIE ◽  
Rebecca PRICE ◽  
Christine DE LILLE
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Fourth Order ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Building Trust ◽  
Current Business

Companies are organised to fulfil two distinctive functions: efficient and resilient exploitation of current business and parallel exploration of new possibilities. For the latter, companies require strong organisational infrastructure such as team compositions and functional structures to ensure exploration remains effective. This paper explores the potential for designing organisational infrastructure to be part of fourth order subject matter. In particular, it explores how organisational infrastructure could be designed in the context of an exploratory unit, operating in a large heritage airline. This paper leverages insights from a long-term action research project and finds that building trust and shared frames are crucial to designing infrastructure that affords the greater explorative agenda of an organisation.

Wonder-inspired leadership: Cultivating ethical and phenomenon-led healthcare

2021 ◽  
pp. 096973302199079
Author(s):  
Finn Th Hansen ◽  
Lene Bastrup Jørgensen
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Healthcare System ◽  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Authentic Leadership ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Research Project ◽  
New Type ◽  
Danish Hospital ◽  
Sense Of Wonder

Three forms of leadership are frequently identified as prerequisites to the re-humanization of the healthcare system: ‘authentic leadership’, ‘mindful leadership’ and ‘ethical leadership’. In different ways and to varying extents, these approaches all focus on person- or human-centred caring. In a phenomenological action research project at a Danish hospital, the nurses experienced and then described how developing a conscious sense of wonder enhanced their ability to hear, to get in resonance with the existential in their meetings with patients and relatives, and to respond ethically. This ability was fostered through so-called Wonder Labs in which the notion of ‘phenomenon-led care’ evolved, which called for ‘slow thinking’ and ‘slow wondrous listening’. For the 10 nurses involved, it proved challenging to find the necessary serenity and space for this slow and wonder-based practice. This article critiques and examines, from a theoretical perspective, the kind of leadership that is needed to encourage this wonder-based approach to nursing, and it suggests a new type of leadership that is itself inspired by wonder and is guided by 10 tangible elements.

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