Social and Behavioral Science

The study of adult offender decision-making and desistance to commit crime typically has been approached from a rational choice perspective and a life-course perspective, respectively. With this solicitation, NIJ seeks to expand the existing research by examining the process of adult offender decision-making. NIJ requests proposals that either expand the rational choice

model and/or life-course model, use other theories to explain either the choice to...

The Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2014, provides funds for the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to undertake a research-focused initiative, the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative, to increase the safety of schools nationwide. Under this Initiative, NIJ is seeking high-quality proposals from the nation’s best minds to research the root causes of school violence, develop technologies and strategies for increasing school safety, and provide pilot...

NIJ is seeking proposals for social and behavioral science research on, and evaluations related to, justice systems topics that bear directly and substantially upon state-, local-, tribal- or federal criminal and juvenile justice policy and practice.​

NIJ is seeking proposals for postdoctoral fellows to analyze existing data or collect new data on dating abuse among adolescents and young adults. Some areas of particular interest to NIJ include, but are not limited to, the following:Testing of behavioral measures of adolescent dating abuse victimization and/or perpetrationResearch that furthers our understanding of abuse within and between relationships, and stability and changes across partners.Research that...

NIJ is seeking proposals for research and evaluation related to the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of elderly individuals. Research that includes residents of residential care facilities also will be considered. Research proposed may be focused at the state, local, tribal, federal, juvenile justice policy and/or practice level.​

NIJ is seeking proposals for criminal justice research projects involving research and/or evaluations of programs to improve our understanding and/or reduce gang membership and violence within the United States. Results from these projects should lead to better criminal justice policy, practice, and research, particularly at the local or state level, on issues surrounding gangs.​

NIJ seeks proposals for research and evaluation of violence against women in the following specific areas: (1) teen dating violence, (2) sexual violence, (3) intimate partner violence, (4) child custody, and (5) environmental scan of Family Justice Centers in the United States. However, other topics that offer important insights into the violence against women may receive equal attention as those topics specifically identified.​