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Events

Meeting People Where They Are to Improve Institutional Culture

August 2023

Incarcerated individuals deserve opportunities for healing and growth, but they often lack the necessary resources for such opportunities. Additionally, organizational cultures that don’t support these outcomes often stand in the way. Researchers and practitioners gathered at NIJ’s 2023 National Research Conference to share ideas and projects that will increase opportunities for incarcerated populations around the country. This show continues their conversation. 

Redefining Trauma-Informed Assessments for Teen Dating Violence: An Introduction to the VIP Study

February 2022

Mandates for risk assessment protocols to be trauma-informed are now common across juvenile justice and school settings. However, there is little direction on how to best translate this mandate into evidence-based screening and assessment tools. This presentation will describe the theoretical model underpinning the Vulnerability, Impairment, and Promotive factors (VIP) Study, which seeks to offer an alternative to existing risk assessment approaches in vulnerable adolescents.

Increasing Rigorous Evaluation of Interventions to Reduce Gender-based Violence Victimization

March 2022

The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) and its re-authorizations mandated several research efforts that stimulated a dramatic enhancement to violence against women research supported by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). This legislation has supported federal, state, local, and private partners in implementing policies and programs and conducting research directly related to gender-based violence. However, questions remain about the effectiveness of those mandates. This brown bag will discuss the gaps and challenges to evaluating gender-based violence interventions.

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.

The Changing Threat Landscape of Terrorism and Violent Extremism: Implications for Research and Policy

January 2022

This panel will provide an overview of the current terrorist threat landscape, how it has changed in the last five to ten years, and strategies to best address this threat at the local and national levels. Emphasis will be placed on how several key events in 2021 have shaped the way we think about research and policy in the fields of radicalization and extremism. Panelists will provide data on fluctuations of the most imminent terrorist threats posed to the U.S.

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.

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.

Protecting Against Stress & Trauma: Research Lessons for Law Enforcement– Defining the Problem

October 2019
At this Research for the Real World seminar, NIJ brought together law enforcement practitioners and leading researchers in the field of stress to discuss the current research evidence and practical benefits of targeted stress-management interventions and how they can promote officer mental wellness. In addition, this gathering provided an exploration into what additional research is needed to best support officer health and wellness, potentially highlighting priority areas for future research.

The Neurobiology of Sexual Assault: Implications for Law Enforcement, Prosecution, and Victim Advocacy

December 2012

Dr. Campbell brings together research on the neurobiology of trauma and the criminal justice response to sexual assault. She explains the underlying neurobiology of traumatic events, its emotional and physical manifestation, and how these processes can impact the investigation and prosecution of sexual assaults. Real-world, practical implications are examined for first responders, such as law enforcement, nurses, prosecutors, and advocates.

Violent Repeat Victimization: Prospects and Challenges for Research and Practice

April 2012

Research tells us that a relatively small fraction of individuals experience a large proportion of violent victimizations. Thus, focusing on reducing repeat victimization might have a large impact on total rates of violence. However, research also tells us that most violent crime victims do not experience more than one incident during a six-month or one-year time period. As a result, special policies to prevent repeat violence may not be cost-effective for most victims.

Police-on-Police Shootings and the Puzzle of Unconscious Racial Bias

June 2010

Professor Christopher Stone recently completed a study of police-on-police shootings as part of a task force he chaired in New York State. He reported on his findings and recommendations, exploring the role of race in policing decisions, methods to improve training and tactics to defuse police-on-police confrontations before they become fatal, and methods to improve the investigations of such shootings.

Children as Citizens: Engaging Adolescents in Research on Exposure to Violence

January 2011

Since the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, great strides have been made in the areas of child protection and advocacy. However, the concept of children, and specifically adolescents, as functional and engaged citizens has also emerged. Through the guidance and recognition of adults, children can participate in deliberative democracy as legitimate and competent citizens. This citizenship, like that of adults, can be used to enrich and improve local communities by creating a sense of ownership and fairness. Dr.

Mothers & Children Seeking Safety in the US: A Study of International Child Abduction Cases Involving Domestic Violence

October 2010

Since the implementation of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, thousands of abused women have faced complex litigation after seeking safety in the United States. Many have been court ordered to return their to the country from which they fled and often to their abusive partners custody. The presenters discussed the findings of an NIJ-funded study focusing on the experiences of women who as victims of domestic violence in another country, come to the U.S.