• The Transformational Prison Project (TPP) is fundamentally committed to making the research experience one that is humanizing for all those involved, moving knowledge forward both in community and by community, and to establishing a rigorous program of evaluation to advance change.

  • Given historic legacies of exploitation, extraction, abuse, and misconduct that often plague research conducted with systems-impacted populations, TPP centers the lived experiences of those harmed by punitive justice, not simply as objects of data collection, but co-excavators of knowledge during the data process. This is critical to our vision of using data to advance the goals of healing, accountability, vulnerability, empathy, compassion, and the creation of a safe container.

  • "Part of me still believe that when people know better, we do better. And for me, having clear and robust data is the first step towards knowing better. Unfortunately, the standard processes by which the “production of knowledge” occurs are often extractive, one-sided, and distanced from the complexities of the real word. Here, in our data department, knowledge is uncovered and elevated in community and by community. That is what we want to accomplish--to elevate the lived experiences of those who are experts in the complexities of their own lives." -Georgepatrick "george" hutchins

Meet the Team

Internal Projects—

These projects focus on building TPP’s programmatic capacity, evaluating the effectiveness of our offerings, and improving the participant experience.

  • This project evaluates the impact of TPP’s Digital Literacy program which introduces returning citizens to current technologies such as laptops, cellphones, digital applications, and the suite of Microsoft Office programs. All participants complete a baseline and endline survey to assess how their understanding and confidence with these various forms of technology has changed.

  • Since 2020, we have been collecting data on TPP’s Phase 1-Introduction to Restorative Justice Programming. From this dataset, our team tracks how participant’s views on justice evolve after going through the circle process. These data are used for both internal and external reports.

  • We collect data on the frequency and amount of contact TPP has with community partners, returning citizens, and collaborators, as well as, the types of events in which program staff participate.

● Program Overview

External Projects

These projects focus on collaborations with local universities and other organizations to deploy restorative justice in the process of social scientific inquiry.

phase I focus group

Started in 2025, this project seeks to provide participants going through the Phase 1 program with a formal opportunity to explore their evolving views on the foundational principles of restorative justice and how these lessons have impacted the ways they show up personally and professionally.

Public Scholarship

Restorative Justice Methodology/Research Methods: Our innovative view on the research process and centering the lived experience of systems impacted individuals has been accepted for publication as a chapter in a peer-reviewed, edited book collection to be published with Routledge.

academic partnerships & data collaborations

  • Agncy

  • Boston Medical Center

  • Harvard University

  • Suffolk University

  • World Peace Foundation

our results

The data below are drawn from five years of self reports collected from those taking part in TPP’s Phase I Introduction to Restorative Justice training.

you would engage in rj processes to address harm encountered in your own life.

you would recommend engagement in rj processes to a loved one who has encountered harm in their life.

rj is a viable alternative to incarceration

Age

*n=131

19.2%

15.3%

30.8%

A total of 132 participants completed the survey for the phase I training—to date.

34.6%

gender

*n=129

32.6%

67.4%

Race

*n=131

.7%

8.4%

45.0%

3.8%

41.9%

● FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Our restorative data department collects information on the core programming efforts of TPP. This includes a comprehensive survey and focus group–based evaluation of our Phase 1 Restorative Justice circles, a survey evaluation of our Digital Literacy Program, and a yearly census of all programs in which TPP has participated.

    Additionally, our team is engaged in several external projects with collaborators from Boston University, Tufts University, and Harvard University. Lastly, we are exploring ways to bring rigorous scholarship to a public- and community-facing audience.

  • Restorative methodology focuses on using strategies and techniques of data collection that diminish power hierarchies and build community between participants and researchers.

    By infusing core principles from restorative justice throughout the research process, data can be collected, analyzed, and documented in ways that promote healing and meaningful collaboration between those with academic experience and those with community experience.

  • This methodology draws strength from Indigenous practices, de-colonial methodologies, and community-based participatory research.

    Though closely related to each of these, restorative methodology offers additional tools to further diminish the harmful impacts that can emerge from standard research methodologies.

    Our data department currently has a peer-reviewed book chapter under review that describes this method in detail.

  • Our data department is currently developing a non-resident fellowship program that will train both those with academic experience and those with community experience to engage in research design and data collection in restorative ways.

    The format of this training will parallel TPP’s Phase 1 Introduction to Restorative Justice training, taking place over 6–8 sessions, but with a specific focus on the harm and trauma that can emerge from extractive data collection projects and on the ways data can be used to promote healing and accountability.

hear from our community:

  • what is rj to you?

    “RJ, for me, is a culture. It’s a way of life. It’s a way to create community, work on your trauma, and really look at what accountability is, what accountability is repairing harm is not punishment. But also, the main thing I got out of sort of justice is learning how to be empathetic. A lot of that vulnerability is strength and power.”

  • who is rj for?

    “I think restorative justice really centers healing as kind of important for everyone, regardless of the role that you play in a certain situation, whether you’re like the victim or the perpetrator, or anything in between.”

  • why did you sign up for rj?

    “What brought me to RJ was change. I wanted something different in my life…I do this for the people that I realized I do look up to me, that do want something different that follow me into the streets, someone don’t follow me into a better lifestyle and something better, something healthier, and also for my soul, because it had been nothing but fruitful for me. And this is why I’m in this work, and why I continue to do this work.”

  • how did rj impact you?

    “[RJ] was so much more than that, where, like it is, like, seeped into my relationship with my partner, with my mom and my my dad, and like these ways that was so surprising and unexpected and incredibly beneficial.”