Articles Published by NIJ

Improved prevalence data, increased understanding, and collaboration between stakeholders are key elements to mounting an effective response to female genital mutilation.

Language-specific measures of economic empowerment are vital to helping women break the cycle of violence, NIJ-supported research finds.

“Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as a silent witness against him.” Edmond Locard (1877-1966), forensic science pioneer

To realize the full potential of youth mentoring programs, it is critical to advance research on program effectiveness and population-level impact.

Recommendations for Policy and Practice

Researchers improve molecular autopsy accuracy by identifying more genetic variants that could lead to sudden unexplained deaths. These genetic clues may better inform criminal investigations and help prevent deaths in surviving family members.

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.

A sweeping synthesis of 90 independent interventions points to benefits of school programs specifically designed to stop cyberbullying.

Too often crime victims experience unmet civil legal needs. The Office for Victims of Crime set up a legal assistance network demonstration to help those victims. An NIJ evaluation of the new model returned mixed results.

As more states legalize marijuana, the search for better methods of proving and preventing drug impairment on the road accelerates.

A new area of research suggests that schools should have a systematic and coordinated approach in place to gather and process information on threats, respond appropriately, and document the response.

Improving postmortem interval estimation with standardized and simplified protocols could significantly impact medicolegal death investigations by providing more accurate and reliable data for determining time since death.

Research probes gaps in knowledge of human trafficking survivors’ experiences, explores alternative justice models suited to survivors’ needs.

Researchers investigated how marijuana affects skills required for safe driving and found that biofluid levels of THC did not correlate with field sobriety test performance or marijuana intoxication, regardless of how the cannabis was ingested.

Corrections agencies may turn to smart digital gear to better train and equip supervisors and monitor persons under supervision to keep them on the path toward compliance.

The emergency communications ecosystem can be supported by planning in advance, developing relationships, and implementing new technology where appropriate.

Researchers integrate two independent, validated drug-testing techniques – mass spectrometry and Raman spectroscopy – onto a single platform prototype for fast and accurate analysis of seized substances.

First responders can help those who commit offenses who also become crime victims connect with services, but an NIJ- sponsored study reveals scant progress against systemic barriers.

An NIJ-sponsored evaluability assessment of the Collective Healing Initiative found that although the outcomes of the initiative’s five demonstration sites could be evaluated individually, they were too dissimilar to compare.

A study of Kentucky’s safe harbor laws revealed they have helped decriminalize sex-trafficked youth. However, the study also highlighted a lack of resources and training for child welfare personnel and judges who work with these youth.