NIJ’s Juvenile Justice Research Portfolio informs efforts to prevent and respond to juvenile delinquency and protect children from victimization by supporting research and evaluation in three broad areas: child maltreatment and victimization, delinquency prevention, and juvenile justice systems.
The juvenile justice system was created as an alternative to the criminal justice system to hold youths accountable for their law-violating actions with the goal of rehabilitating youths rather than punishing them with sanctions.[1] While the juvenile justice system has evolved over time, there has been consistent recognition that youth require different supports and strategies than adults to prevent law-violating behavior and reduce reoffending.[2] NIJ collaborates with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to support research and evaluation in three broad areas that address the requirements and other purposes authorized under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act[3]: child maltreatment and victimization, delinquency prevention, and juvenile justice system response.
Within these three areas of focus, NIJ’s Juvenile Justice Research Portfolio advances knowledge on a wide variety of topics by employing rigorous research and evaluation methods that leverage original and secondary data.
- NIJ supports national data collections, qualitative and quantitative research, and mixed-methods evaluations to help understand and mitigate the effects of child maltreatment and victimization and to identify effective interventions.
- NIJ funds longitudinal and cross-sectional research to understand the risk and protective factors associated with juvenile offending and inform strategies to prevent juvenile delinquency. It also supports rigorous randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental evaluations to determine which prevention strategies are most effective.
- NIJ funds quantitative and qualitative research and data collection to strengthen juvenile justice system responses and improve outcomes for system-involved youth. This includes collecting, analyzing, and disseminating national statistical data. It also evaluates justice system interventions — including diversion programs, community corrections strategies, and reentry services — to determine what works.
NIJ, in collaboration with OJJDP, funds efforts to translate research and evaluation findings into practitioner-focused resources. Researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and community organizations rely on NIJ study findings, statistical data, and publications to monitor trends; improve system functioning; identify promising interventions; and inform policy, practice, and resource allocation decisions to improve outcomes for youths who are victimized, at risk, or justice-system involved.
Research Priority 1: Identify characteristics and trends in the juvenile justice system, delinquency, and child victimization.
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 1.1 | What is the nature and prevalence of children experiencing different types of victimization (e.g., technology-facilitated victimization)? |
| Research Question 1.2 | How does the juvenile justice system’s response to youth change over time and across jurisdictions? |
| Research Question 1.3 | What are the characteristics of system-involved youth and the legal attributes of cases processed in the juvenile justice system? |
Research Priority 2: Understand delinquency, victimization, and desistance pathways throughout individuals’ lives and across generations.
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 2.1 | What are the causes, correlates, and long-term consequences of engaging in delinquent behavior? |
| Research Question 2.2 | How do individual, family, school, peer, neighborhood, and community risk and protective factors interact to influence delinquency, substance use, and victimization? |
| Research Question 2.3 | How does engagement in delinquent behavior and contact with the juvenile justice system in one generation relate to behavior and justice system contact in subsequent generations? |
Priority 3: Understand the short- and long-term effects of mentoring programs on at-risk and juvenile justice system-involved youth and minimize barriers to participation.
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 3.1 | Does mentoring improve youth outcomes and prevent delinquency? |
| Research Question 3.2 | What mentoring approaches, components, and elements are most effective at achieving positive outcomes? |
| Research Question 3.3 | What are the characteristics of mentees and mentors most likely to achieve positive outcomes? |
Priority 4: Identify strategies to protect youth from victimization and mitigate the effects.
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 4.1 | What are effective investigative strategies to identify child maltreatment and victimization? |
| Research Question 4.2 | What are effective interventions to support positive outcomes for children who have been victimized? |
| Research Question 4.3 | What are effective strategies for improving outcomes for youth and families involved in both the juvenile justice system and child welfare system? |
Priority 5: Inform juvenile justice system practices to be more effective at holding youth accountable, treating youth fairly, and promoting positive youth outcomes.
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 5.1 | How does employing structured decision-making tools in the juvenile justice process affect youth outcomes? |
| Research Question 5.2 | What is the effectiveness of judicial/legal processing alternatives in addressing and reducing delinquency? |
| Research Question 5.3 | What system interventions are effective at reducing youth involvement in the juvenile justice system and improving outcomes? |
Reports -
- Evaluation of the Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program: Long-Term Outcomes and Sustained Impact, Final Technical Report
- Long-Term Impact and Cost-Effectiveness of Risk-Needs Assessment and Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) Reforms in Juvenile Probation: The Long-Term RNR-Impact Study
- An Ecological Model of Risk and Protection for Delinquency and Juvenile Justice Involvement among Maltreated Youth: A Longitudinal Study
Datasets -
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