On this episode of Tell Us About It, we speak with Alesha Durfee, PhD, Associate Professor in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University and Paul Thomas, Court Administrator for the Mesa Municipal Court, Mesa, Arizona. Dr. Durfee and Mr. Thomas were partners on a CVR-funded researcher-practitioner fellowship. Their project examined the relationship between gender, victimization, and the need for victim services among defendants in the Mesa Community Court. The Community Court is designed to address chronic, low-level offending that occurs as a result of social problems, including homelessness, mental disorders, and alcohol and drug addiction.

They joined us to discuss the importance of this topic and the value of research, their approach and findings, and how their project benefited from a strong partnership.