Hawken's research team focuses on drugs, crime, and corruption. She is the principal investigator of several studies that test swift, certain, and fair (SCF) strategies to reduce recidivism and incarceration. She led the randomized controlled trials of HOPE probation in Hawaii and the SCF pilot in Seattle (called WISP). She works with 11 states and an Indian nation on implementation of SCF probation and parole, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice. And she directs the Bureau of Justice Assistance's Swift & Certain/HOPE TTA resource center, which will launch in Fall 2014.