U.S. flag

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

Multimedia Listing

Showing Results For:
Subtopic: Juvenile justice

De-escalation Training: What Works, Implementation Lessons, and Taking It to Scale; Plenary at the 2023 NIJ Research Conference

August 2023

Police use of force, while infrequently used, is a tremendous concern to public safety in the United States when officers employ it excessively or inappropriately, causing injury or death and eroding public trust in law enforcement. This plenary from the 2023 NIJ Research Conference describes the Integrating, Communications, Assessment, and Tactics (ICAT) de-escalation training program developed by the Police Executive Research Forum to guide officers in defusing critical incidents.

2023 NIJ Research Conference Opening Ceremony

August 2023

The theme of NIJ’s 2023 Research Conference was “evidence to action,” and our goal was to bring researchers and practitioners together to learn about the latest research evidence and how it can be implemented to promote safety, equity, and justice.

The opening ceremony included remarks from U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs Amy Solomon, and NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne.

A Leg Up: NIJ's Graduate Research Fellowship Program

March 2023

NIJ Director Dr. Nancy La Vigne joins the show to interview Dr. Marie Garcia, Director of NIJ’s Criminal Justice Systems Division and a former NIJ graduate research fellow. They discuss the application process, Marie’s experience as a fellow while at Temple University, and advice for future applicants. 

Reading and Resources from NIJ:

Desistance: It's a Process, Not an Event

April 2022
Desistance is the process of individuals ceasing engagement in criminal activity. It may sound simple but it is quite complex, and the more we understand it, the better equipped we are to help accelerate the process before people are incarcerated or once they leave prison or jail. NIJ Journal Editor Beth Pearsall hosts a conversation on this topic with Senior Social Science Analyst Marie Garcia, Senior Advisor Ben Adams, and Social Science Research Analyst Kaitlyn Sill.

Learning from Doing Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Second Chance Act Grant Program

April 2022

Reauthorized in 2018, the Second Chance Act (SCA) aims to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes for people returning from state and federal prisons, local jails, and juvenile facilities through the provision of federal grants. During this panel, National Institute of Justice-funded researchers will detail two ongoing evaluations of the SCA grant program:

  1. An evaluation of the effectiveness of the SCA grant program per Title V of the First Step Act.
  2. A longitudinal examination of the long-term impacts of the SCA program.

Desistance From Crime: Implications for Research, Policy, and Practice

November 2021

Most scholars would agree that desistance from crime – the process of ceasing engagement in criminal activities – is normative. However, there is variability in the literature regarding the definition and measurement of desistance, the signals of desistance, the age at which desistance begins, and the underlying mechanisms that lead to desistance. Even with considerable advances in the theoretical understanding of desistance from crime, there remain critical gaps between research and the application of that research to practice.

Virtual Conference on School Safety - Welcome Message, Overview of CSSI, and a Philadelphia Story

February 2021

On February 16-18, 2021, the National Institute of Justice hosted the Virtual Conference on School Safety: Bridging Research to Practice to Safeguard Our Schools. This video includes a welcome message, an overview of the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative and School Safety Research at NIJ, and the presentation on "A Philadelphia Story: Innovating and Improving in a Large Urban District," by Abigail Gray and Kevin Bethel, School District of Philadelphia.