U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Strengthen science. Advance justice.

Learn more about NIJ

railroad crossing
mbbirdy (see reuse policy).

Biosocial Factors’ Influence on Desistance

Part 2 in our white paper series on desistance from crime examines desistance from a biosocial perspective and provides a guide for new initiatives in evidence-based correctional policy and practice. The biosocial lens includes brain development, neuropsychological functioning, and stress system response research that has specific implications for human behavior. 

Read a summary of and download the full paper.
text based image with program name and a yellow light bulb
PXHERE (see reuse policy).

Apply to be a Research Assistant with NIJ

The NIJ Research Assistantship Program offers highly qualified doctoral students the opportunity to bring their expertise to NIJ to work across offices and program areas to obtain a practical and applied research experience. We welcome students from all academic disciplines to apply and connect their research to the criminal justice field.

Apply by January 3, 2022.
four youths with backpacks walking outside on a nice day
Syda Productions (see reuse policy).

Improving Student Threat Assessment

Research finds that school-initiated threat assessments are a good alternative to zero-tolerance policies for keeping students safe, but better data and assessment team resources are needed. NIJ-supported researchers studied threat assessments in Virginia’s K-12 public schools, and offer several recommendations to improve threat assessments in schools. 

Read the article about this study.
image of crossing railroad tracks
mbbirdy (see reuse policy).

What is desistance?

Desistance is generally understood to mean the reduction in criminal behavior over time. It is the process of individuals ceasing engagement in criminal activities. More recent definitions, however, suggest that desistance is instead a developmental process by which criminality declines over time. 

NIJ’s Term of the Month promotes research-based definitions of criminal justice terms.

Learn more about desistance.
orange graphic displaying a bar graph and text that reads "Criminal Justice Dataset Releases"

Criminal Justice Data Archives

The National Archive of Criminal Justice Data archives data on crime and justice and contains data from over 2,700 curated studies or statistical data series. The website is home to several large-scale datasets, including the National Crime Victimization Survey, FBI's Uniform Crime Reports and National Incident-Based Reporting System, and the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. 

Download data from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data.

NIJ Virtual Conference on School Safety

Find funding opportunities

Find funding opportunities

NIJ awards research, development, testing, and evaluation grants.
Read the latest

Read the latest

Review a list of publications and articles from both NIJ and the researchers we fund.
Register for events

Register for events

Check out a list of our upcoming events. If you don't see anything of interest, we also offer a number of recorded, on-demand event and training opportunities.
Browse all topics

Browse all topics

Find articles and other information on a wide variety of criminal justice topics.

CrimeSolutions Program and Practice Ratings for Native American Heritage Month 

CrimeSolutions - Reliable Research. Real Results.
NIJ (see reuse policy).

IMpower Program for American Indian Girls

This was a sexual assault prevention program adapted for American Indian girls that sought to reduce sexual assault victimization and to improve sexual assault resistance skills and self-defense knowledge. 

Review this program for American Indian girls. 
CrimeSolutions - Reliable Research. Real Results.
NIJ (see reuse policy).

Cherokee Talking Circle

This is a culturally-based intervention targeting substance abuse among Native American adolescents. The program was designed for students who were part of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, the eighth largest tribe in Oklahoma.

Learn about this program to help Cherokee youth.
CrimeSolutions - Reliable Research. Real Results.
NIJ (see reuse policy).

Bicultural Competence Skills Approach

This program is designed to prevent substance use in American Indian adolescents by teaching them bicultural social skills. 

Check out how this program may support Native youth.
Person holding a pen at an event.
Motorion/iStock (see reuse policy).

The First Step Act

The First Step Act of 2018 aims to reform the federal prison system and reduce recidivism. NIJ is working to assess and develop an existing prisoner risk and needs assessment system, and develop recommendations regarding effective evidence-based recidivism reduction programs and activities.

Learn about NIJ’s role under the First Step Act.