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Multimedia Listing

The Hidden Costs of Reentry: Understanding the Barriers to Removing a Criminal Record

May 2022

NIJ hosted a webinar to discuss under-researched aspects of reentry: expungement of criminal records and the impact of those records. This webinar includes a presentation of ongoing research projects examining the impact of legal aid for expungement and past research projects studying the accuracy and permanency of criminal records and the prevalence of collateral consequences of conviction. A Q&A session will conclude this webinar.

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.

Taking Stock: An Overview of NIJ's Reentry Research Portfolio and Assessing the Impact of the Pandemic on Reentry Research

April 2022

Over several decades, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has made significant contributions to the field of reentry, specifically what works for whom and when. In recent years, however, the global pandemic has made it increasingly difficult to conduct research on and with populations involved with the justice system. During this time, many researchers assessing various justice-related outcomes were unable to continue their inquiries as planned due to a lack of access to their populations of interest, forcing many to pivot and rethink their research designs.

Listen, Learn, Inform - About the National Institute of Justice

February 2022

NIJ is the research, development and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice.

We are dedicated to improving knowledge and understanding of crime and justice issues through science. We provide objective and independent knowledge and tools to inform the decision-making of the criminal and juvenile justice communities to reduce crime and advance justice, particularly at the state and local levels.

Booker and Beyond Analyzing Sentencing Reform and Exploring New Research Directions

January 2022

This webinar features a discussion of previously published research on the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2005 Booker decision - which effectively transformed the United States Sentencing Guidelines from a mandatory, to an advisory, system. The presentation will address selected research findings from the last 15 years. Individual participants will briefly review their previous research findings with particular attention paid to the analytic methods used.

NIJ-Funded Research on Firearms Violence in Urban Cities Advancing Scientific Evidence to Inform Practice

December 2021

In this full thematic panel, renowned experts will present a series of papers summarizing the newest findings of NIJ-funded research projects on criminal offenses with firearms in urban areas. Researchers used various criminological and other theories, including routine activity theory, socio-ecological and socio-environmental perspectives, and advanced mixed-study methods, including surveys and spatio-temporal designs, to produce scientific evidence to inform practice.

NIJ-Funded Research on Mass Shootings to Advance Evidence-Based Policy and Practice

November 2021

Mass public shootings continue to threaten communities in the United States, yet research on this criminal phenomenon is limited. In this full thematic panel, renowned experts will present a series of research projects summarizing NIJ-funded research projects’ newest findings on public mass shootings. The discussion will focus on NIJ’s investment to address the phenomenon of mass shootings through innovative study approaches to advance our understanding of mass shootings and inform prevention efforts. The implications of this research to criminal justice will also be discussed.

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.

NIJ Training Course for Law Enforcement Officers: Sexual Assault Relaying Details to Investigator

Content Advisory
Please be aware that this content contains descriptions of violence that may be distressing to some viewers.
June 2021
An interactive tool used in supplement to the NIJ online training course entitled 'What Every Law Enforcement Officer Should Know About DNA Evidence'. This video reenactment demonstrates how to relay details to an investigator in a sexual assault case. 

NIJ Training Course for Law Enforcement Officers: Questioning Witnesses on Violent Crimes

Content Advisory
Please be aware that this content contains descriptions of violence that may be distressing to some viewers.
June 2021
An interactive tool used in supplement to the NIJ online training course entitled 'What Every Law Enforcement Officer Should Know About DNA Evidence'. This is a reenactment video of how to question witnesses on violent crimes. 

NIJ Training Course for Law Enforcement Officers: Meet Homicide 911 Callers

Content Advisory
Please be aware that this content contains descriptions of violence that may be distressing to some viewers.
June 2021
An interactive tool used in supplement to the NIJ online training course entitled 'What Every Law Enforcement Officer Should Know About DNA Evidence'. This is a reenactment video on how to meet 9-1-1 callers in a homicide case.