U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

National Institute of Justice

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE

JANUARY 2016 LESSONS LEARNED: SEXUAL ASSAULT KITS 

FORMING AN 

ACTION-RESEARCH TEAM
 

TO ADDRESS SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES
 
U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Justice Programs 

810 Seventh St. N.W. 

Washington, DC 20531 

Loretta E. Lynch 

Attorney General 

Karol V. Mason 

Assistant Attorney General 

Nancy Rodriguez, Ph.D. 

Director, National Institute of Justice 

This and other publications and products of the National Institute of Justice 

can be found at: 

National Institute of Justice 

Strengthen Science • Advance Justice 

http://www.nij.gov 

Office of Justice Programs 

Innovation • Partnerships • Safer Neighborhoods 

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov 

The National Institute of Justice is the research, development and evaluation agency of the 

U.S. Department of Justice. NIJ’s mission is to advance scientific research, development 

and evaluation to enhance the administration of justice and public safety. 

NIJ is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau 

of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the Office for Victims of Crime; 

the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; and the Office of Sex 

Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART). 

Opinions or points of view expressed in this document are those of the authors and do 

not reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Justice. 

Photo Sources (front): HTV Television, ©Bonnie Jacobs/iStock LP, ©Jose AS Reyes/ iStock LP 
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE
 

FORMING AN 

ACTION-RESEARCH TEAM
 

TO ADDRESS SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES
 

NCJ 249232 

 

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Forming an Action-Research Team to Address Sexual Assault Cases 1 

L

ike other jurisdictions around the country, Detroit faced the issue of large 

numbers of sexual assault kits (SAKs) that had not, over the years, been 

submitted to a crime lab for DNA testing. The action-research project that 

NIJ funded in 2011 required the Wayne County (Detroit), Mich., Prosecutor’s 

Office to form a multidisciplinary team to address the issue. On the team were 

practitioners who deal with sexual assaults every day — police officers, crime lab 

analysts, prosecutors and victim advocates — as well as social science researchers 

from Michigan State University (MSU). 

The MSU researchers were led by Rebecca 

Campbell, Ph.D., a nationally recognized expert on 

sexual assault. Dr. Campbell’s work with the Detroit 

multidisciplinary team followed an “action-research” 

model. First, the team worked collaboratively to 

understand the scope of the issue: How many 

unsubmitted kits were there, and how and why did 

the problem develop? Then, the team identified 

effective, sustainable responses. (See sidebar, p. 5, 

“What Is Action Research?”) 

Here — derived from the final report on the project, 

prepared by Dr. Campbell on behalf of the Detroit SAK 

multidisciplinary team — are eight lessons learned 

about forming a team to conduct action research on 

a large number of SAKs that had previously not been 

submitted to a crime laboratory for DNA testing. 

In 2011, after a competitive selection 

process, the National Institute of Justice 

awarded grants to the Wayne County 

(Detroit), Mich., Prosecutor’s Office and to 

the Houston Police Department to look at 

the issue of sexual assault kits (SAKs) that 

had not previously been sent to a crime 

laboratory for DNA testing. 

The overarching goal of this project was to 

identify effective, sustainable responses 

regarding previously untested SAKs. 

This brochure — one in a series of four 

is derived from lessons learned during 

the project in Detroit. We hope that the 

brochures assist other jurisdictions that are 

addressing the issue of previously untested 

SAKs. 

National Institute of Justice | NIJ.gov 
2 Lessons Learned: Sexual Assault Kits 

1 The cause needs a champion (or champions). 

Addressing the problem of unsubmitted SAKs is a long and arduous process, and 

individuals and organizations may feel internal and external pressure to solve the 

problem as quickly as possible. Confronting, resolving and preventing current and 

future accumulations of unsubmitted SAKs is a long-term endeavor — a cause that 

needs a champion or many champions. Leaders with good standing and respect 

within the community need to take on the issue and keep key organizations and 

systems engaged in solving the problem. 

2 Forming a multidisciplinary team is important, 

but building a team is even more important. 

Forming a multidisciplinary team (or working group) is essential; however, it may not 

be reasonable to expect that individuals on the team — or the organizations they 

represent — will have the experience or interest in working together, at first. The 

results of the Detroit action-research project revealed that years of poor systemic 

collaboration can contribute to the accumulation of a large number of unsubmitted 

SAKs. Therefore, allocating time to learn about the roles of each team member and 

the work of their organizations is critical. Team-building activities — particularly at 

the beginning of the project — can also help the group to coalesce and work together 

more effectively. 

3 A project coordinator is essential to the 

success of the project. 

Previous action-research projects have shown that a designated project coordinator 

is critical to the success of the project. This person is responsible for keeping the 

group on task, providing day-to-day leadership, managing conflict and interpersonal 

difficulties, and sustaining team collaboration. 

National Institute of Justice | NIJ.gov 
 

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Forming an Action-Research Team to Address Sexual Assault Cases 3 

4 Group facilitation has its Group Facilitator Options 

challenges. Here are a few roles that the group facilitator in an 

Group facilitation is challenging work, and a action research project can play: 

multidisciplinary team may need to try different ■■ The project coordinator.* strategies before finding one that works. 

Managing stakeholders with divergent viewpoints ■■ An outside, professional facilitator who can be difficult, but a skilled group facilitator can is not affiliated with any of the member create a setting in which individuals are able to organizations. openly share their points of view. 

■■ A team member who is not the project 

coordinator.* 

5 Who has decision- *If the multidisciplinary team meetings are facilitated by 

someone inside the group, the group needs to consider making authority? whether and how the facilitator can share his or her own views 

in the discussion without biasing the process. 

The individuals on the multidisciplinary team may 

or may not have the authority to make decisions 

on behalf of their organizations. As a result, a 

team’s provisional decisions may not be enacted immediately, and senior executives 

will need time to consider the team’s recommendations. If the senior executives do not 

concur with the team’s decisions — or decide not to adopt their recommendations — 

the team may need to re-evaluate and resubmit its plan of action. 

In a multidisciplinary team consisting of multiple organizations, some organizations 

may be more influential than others. One organization may have been granted more 

authority than others, either by law or by the community. The multidisciplinary team 

should specifically discuss these issues to clarify what decisions individual members 

can make and which of the team’s decisions are binding or are merely advisory. 

National Institute of Justice | NIJ.gov 
4 Lessons Learned: Sexual Assault Kits 

6 Balancing the workload: New cases don’t stop 

coming in. 

Communities that have large numbers of unsubmitted SAKs are likely to struggle 

with how to handle the old cases (many of which will become “current cases” if they 

are re-opened, investigated and prosecuted) while also responding to new incoming 

cases. All disciplines — prosecution, law enforcement, forensic sciences, medicine 

and nursing, and advocacy — will face this challenge. Some jurisdictions may be able 

to form specialized cold case units, in which staff focus exclusively on the older cases 

and other units are responsible for the new incoming cases. 

7 Prepare for change ... because change is 

constant. 

Because addressing the problem of unsubmitted SAKs is a long-term endeavor, staff 

turnover among the top leadership and front-line practitioners is to be expected. Other 

changes in funding, resources and community context should also be anticipated. 

Having champions from multiple disciplines can help weather these changes and 

keep the community invested in the development of long-term solutions. 

8 The action-research model can be unclear to 

practitioners. 

Community practitioners may not have experience participating in social science 

action-research projects. And even if they do, they are more likely to have 

experienced “traditional” research or evaluation in which the researchers were 

focused primarily on data collection. As noted in the sidebar on page 5, the actionresearch model is a very different approach to research; thus, before they agree to 

participate, multidisciplinary partners should learn how the model works. Once a 

multidisciplinary team is involved in an action-research project, team members should 

continue to discuss roles and responsibilities because this process is important in 

developing appropriate expectations of the researchers and the other partners. 

National Institute of Justice | NIJ.gov 
 

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Forming an Action-Research Team to Address Sexual Assault Cases 5 

What Is Action Research? 

In the past 15 years, there has been a significant shift in how complex criminal justice 

problems are studied. Before “action research” came on the scene, academic researchers sat 

apart from the criminal justice practitioners, studying an issue from “the outside.” In action 

research, however, researchers work collaboratively with practitioners to: 

1. Understand circumstances in their local context, diagnosing the nature and source of the 

problem. 

2. Plan a response. 

3. Implement the response. 

4. Evaluate the response. 

5. Modify the response, based on results of the evaluation. 

In Detroit, Dr. Campbell and her action research team collected data on a small set of cases, 

brought the information back to the full multidisciplinary group, and said, ‘Here’s what seems 

to be working well and here are some things we should think more about.’ 

Action research allows practitioners to test new processes and solutions while researchers 

evaluate their progress and give feedback. In this way, the work of the team is continually 

revised and improved as new information becomes available — which helps ensure that 

decisions are made in a thoughtful, data driven way. 

Other Brochures in This Series 

Notifying Sexual Assault Victims After Testing Evidence 

Performing an Audit of Sexual Assault Evidence in Police Custody 

Creating a Plan to Test a Large Number of Sexual Assault Kits 

For More Information 

See an interactive Web page on using evidence in sexual assault kits: 


http://NIJ.gov/unsubmitted-kits/pages/default.aspx
 

Learn more about the Detroit project: https://www.NCJRS.gov (keyword: 248680)
 

Learn more about the Houston project: http://www.HoustonSAKResearch.org
 

Learn more about the issue of untested evidence in sexual assault cases: 


http://www.NIJ.gov (keyword: untested evidence in sexual assault cases) 

National Institute of Justice | NIJ.gov 
Learn more about sexual assault investigations, including understanding 

the neurobiology of sexual assault and a partnership formed by NIJ and 

the FBI to help address the issue of unsubmitted evidence in sexual 

assault cases. 

Visit NIJ.gov, keyword: sexual assault investigations 

Or join the conversation on social media: 

Follow us on twitter.com/OJPNIJ
 

Like us on facebook.com/OJPNIJ
 
Acknowledgments 

One of the National Institute of Justice’s requirements in the Detroit and Houston 

projects was that multidisciplinary teams had to be involved in every step along 

the way. We thank the team members for their extraordinary commitment to these 

projects and for their role in improving the administration of justice in the United 

States. 

The Detroit team: 

• Michigan State University*

• Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office

• Detroit Police Department

• WC Safe

• YWCA Interim House

• Michigan State Police

• Michigan Domestic Violence

Prevention and Treatment Board

• Joyful Heart Foundation

• Michigan Prosecuting Attorneys

Association

The Houston team: 

• Sam Houston State University

• The University of Texas at Austin

• Houston Forensic Science Center

• Houston Police Department

• Houston Area Women’s Center

• Memorial Hermann Health System

• Harris Health System

• Harris County District Attorney’s

Office

*NIJ wishes to acknowledge Dr. Rebecca Campbell who wrote the final report from

which content in this brochure is derived. 

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SEXUAL ASSAULT KITS 

Using Science to Find Solutions 

Explore how evidence in SAKs is

used in solving sexual assault

cases, including: •	 Implications for victims. 

•	 Why many kits historically were not tested. 

•	 What policymakers and criminal justice 

professionals should know. 

Visit www.nij.gov/unsubmitted-kits to learn more. 

*NCJ~249232*