About ACE!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
ACE! is the Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence!
ACE! is part of Schar School of Policy and Government and is located on the Fairfax campus. Our mailing address is:
Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE!)
4400 University Drive
MSN 6D3
Fairfax, VA 22032
No. While adult and juvenile corrections are among our primary areas of expertise, ACE! researchers also have extensive experience with public health issues and with organizational change in different types of organizations, not just correctional agencies.
ACE! is supported by both George Mason University and by outside funding. We receive funding from numerous sources, including federal, state, county, and local governments, foundations, universities, and other consultant groups. Some of the agencies that support and benefit from ACE!’s work include the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bureau of Justice Assistance, National Institute of Justice, Arnold Ventures, and Annie E. Casey Foundation.
To learn more about an ACE! project, please visit our research pages. For further information, please contact the project manager or director listed. If inquiring about a past project, or if no manager is listed, please email ace@gmu.edu.
We are always interested in finding new research opportunities and new research partners! Please contact Dr. Faye Taxman and Dr. Danielle Rudes to discuss a research idea.
No. ACE! has research partners from government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit companies, as well as universities.
Please contact Dr. Faye Taxman and Dr. Danielle Rudes if you are interested in having them speak to your group.
Behavioral contracting: a reinforcement tool that is used to reward positive behavior. In behavioral contracting, the teacher, clinician, probation officer, or other professional works with the client to develop explicit goals and expectations and informs the client of potential positive and negative consequences.
Buprenorphine: a derivative of the morphine alkaloid thebaine and a strong pain reliever with marked narcotic antagonist activity used in medication-assisted treatment of opioid dependence. To learn more about buprenorphine, please see Heel et al. (1979).
CJ-DATS: a cooperative research program to explore the issues related to the complex system of offender treatment services. The vision of the CJ-DATS research program is to improve outcomes for offenders with substance use disorders by improving the integration of drug abuse treatment with public safety and public health systems. For more information, please visit the CJ-DATS website.
Compulsory treatment: activities that increase the likelihood that drug abusers will enter and remain in treatment, change their behavior in a socially desirable way, and sustain that change. To read more about compulsory treatment, see the article by Leukefeld and Tims (1988).
Contingency management: a type of intervention that utilizes systematic reinforcement with rewards (or punishment) to alter problem behaviors in offenders. To learn more about contingency management, see research by Prendergast, Petry, and Stitzer.
Continuum of care models: models that emphasize integration of treatments and systems in order to improve the standard of care for clients. This model is used in a number of settings, particularly in healthcare.
Correctional health: the field of work on healthcare for those involved in the corrections systems, including those in jail or prison as well as those on supervised release in the community. These populations have greater risk for certain conditions than the general population, and each setting brings with it unique challenges.
Evidence-based practices (EBPs): the integration of best research evidence, clinical expertise, and individual needs and choices. EBPs are identified and used in numerous fields, ranging from medicine to plumbing to corrections.
Experimental design: a specific plan for a research study which includes methods of selecting and assigning subjects as well as number and types of treatment variables. Experimental designs must also contain at least two comparison groups with at least one group receiving a treatment.
Implementation research: research that supports the movement of evidence-based interventions and approaches from an experimental, controlled environment into the actual delivery contexts where the programs, tools and guidelines will be utilized, promoted, and integrated into the existing operational culture. To learn more about implementation research, see this Rubenstein and Pugh (2006) article.
Medication-assisted treatment (MAT): treatment for substance abuse that involves the use of medications, such as methadone or buprenorphine to prevent withdrawal, decrease craving, and diminish the effects of the addictive substance. To learn more about medication-assisted treatment, please see this article by Bruce and Schleifer (2008).
Motivational Interviewing: a directive, client-centered counseling style for eliciting behavior change by helping clients explore and resolve ambivalence. To learn more about motivational interviewing, see this Rollnick & Miller (1995) article.
Naturalistic study: a type of study in which the researcher carefully observes and records behaviors or phenomena in their natural settings, while interfering as little as possible.
Organizational surveys: surveys tailored to organizations that are used as a tool to obtain feedback and information to help improve organizational effectiveness.
Patient Navigators: health care professionals who assist patients, caregivers and families by overcoming barriers to the timely reception of health care by utilizing resources. To learn more about patient navigators, see this Dohan & Schrag (2005) article.
Randomized experiment: an experiment in which research subjects are randomly assigned to the treatment and comparison groups.
Randomized block experiment: a type of experiment that uses a nonrandom procedure first to assign subjects to groups based on a similarity factor and then uses a random procedure to assign the groups to the treatment and comparison groups.
Readiness for change: a shared resolve among members of an organization to implement a change and shared beliefs in their collective capability to do so. To learn more about readiness to change, see this article by Weiner (2009).
Risk-need-responsivity (RNR) principle: developed by Andrews and Bonta in 1990. It integrates the psychology of criminal conduct into an understanding of how to reduce recidivism. Using this concept, they identify three principles to guide the assessment and treatment of offenders to advance rehabilitative goals as well as reduce risk to society: risk principle, need principle, and responsivity principle. To learn more about the risk-need-responsivity (RNR) principle, read this article by Taxman, Thanner, and Weisburd (2006).
Seamless systems of care: A seamless system of care is a model that incorporates treatment within the criminal justice system. Its main objective is to redefine the relationship between the criminal justice and treatment systems into a boundaryless system. The four key components of a seamless system include: (1) continuum of care, (2) supervision, (3) urinalysis testing, and (4) compliance measures and graduated sanctions.
Systemic case management: a form of case management that integrates system features that are critical to effectively treat offender populations within the criminal justice and treatment systems as part of the ongoing processes for handling offenders. The systemic approach focuses on resource development, social action plans, policy formation, data collection, information management, program evaluation, and quality assurance and integrates traditional case management functions within the roles and responsibilities of the appropriate treatment and criminal justice staff.
Technology transfer: the movement of know-how, technical knowledge, or technology from one organizational setting to another. To learn more about technology transfer, see this Bozeman (2000) article.
Utilization enhancers: elements of programs that contribute to their effectiveness, such as organizational culture and quality improvement. Utilization enhancer studies identify how an intervention works: factors that aid (or undermine) implementation or maintenance.