This week I sat in a prison phone box.

This week I sat in a prison phone box, Across from us in greens and handcuffed – through Bullet proof glass and a small flyscreen looking vent to hear each other was how we engaged with participants around co design this week.

What I know from my time in the justice space is however it looks - to take those opportunities when they are available and to be present and accessible for people who traditionally access and participation can be complex. In many cases this is probably some of the most complex of environments where you could try and embed a design method like this that is founded on participation, shared power and decision making and the ability to test, retest and re design how we progress forward. In a prison world, sometimes any or all of this can be complex.

Without talking in detail about the project specifically I did want to share some brief refection's, particularly for engaging in the prison environment or similar institutions. One is about trust. Two is about coming back. 3 is about listening. I talk about them in isolation but really they are all interconnected.

Despite the fact that all participants were more than happy to connect and share some perspectives around their experience, a critical piece was around conversations about the WHY – in this case, we believe – like the participants as well that this approach to justice that we are exploring is really significant. We want participants to know that they have some agency in guiding where we (as Aboriginal researchers) go to from here. Something completely foreign in research in this space for participants in prison to be asked to tell us how their experiences should be evaluated and to inform design methodology.

After some time, as a Blackfulla for many brothers in this project a shared connection to community or place for some went a long way to increasing comfort and the ability to participate.

For me personally, one of the men on the list of interviews was a childhood friend I grew up with, from a world similar to mine who as kids we made a lot of mistakes together and I cant help but reflect this week so much on what the world for him could have looked like if had got what he needed as a young person.

I said earlier that no.2 was coming back - In this project we have the opportunity to again meet with these fullas soon, meaning based on everything we have heard we can take back that information and what we are hearing so that they have a voice in informing if we are on the right path or if there is pieces of the puzzle that is missing. This is also where no.3 sits in the listening – in the presenting back to participants what we are hearing. So that they feel seen, heard and that they have agency and power over determining the direction of how the impact of these systems over their experience is understood.

This is one of the critical differentiators between something being engagement/participation and people being involved in the design of something. I also trust that the next time we see them in a month that the yarns will be robust as a few weeks of reflecting and yarning with other participants can hopefully inform some further design yarns.

And so now, at the end of a big week of codesign engagement – what was for me a period of uncertainty and in the grey has started to really come into the light.

I feel confident that we can bring real integrity and participation into this project for one of the most complex stakeholder groups you could try and engage with in codesign, research and evaluation work.

Anyway a big yarn, but a unique one and something some of my reflections add some value for to others as well – remember in short if you take something away; 1. TRUST 2. LISTEN 3.COME BACK – both in isolation and interconnected.

Enjoyed this yarn? Let me know in the comments or share this somewhere for others that might as well.

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