Group work in research: creating a research family

As members of a research group at New York University’s Center on Violence and Recovery, we, the authors, strive to promote social justice through our research and awareness in relationships between members of the research team as we conduct studies on domestic violence (DV) and restorative justice (RJ). Our diverse group members have become a “research family.” We have learned through this experience that group work within research is one way to enact social justice. Like a wave, our group dynamics have and will continue to influence our individual and collective potentials as well as our contribution to the fields of DV and RJ. In this narrative we share our experience and the multiple factors that are necessary for our group to sustain its impact.