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- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
Teen Dating Violence: How Peers Can Affect Risk & Protective Factors
This brief (PDF, 24 pages) draws on NIJ-funded research, as well as broader literature, to illustrate the ways teens shape each other’s relationship experiences and decisions to enter and leave romantic relationships that turn violent.
Understanding Teen Dating Violence
In this interview, Dr. Peggy Giordano of Bowling Green State University describes her research on teen dating violence and how it changes over time. Dr. Giordana conducted a longitudinal study following 1,200 youth from age 13 into young adulthood and found conflict in key areas of a relationship can increase the risk of violence.
Child Trauma and its Effects: Implications for Police
This article describes child trauma and the negative impact it can have on development, and the implications this has for police, especially for those working in poor communities of color. The article also suggests police be trained on the high prevalence of severe childhood trauma in such communities, its effects on the developing child, and its impact on adolescent and adult functioning to increase their capacity to address this major public mental health issue.
Community-Based Responses to Justice-Involved Young Adults
This bulletin proposes new institutional methods and processes for young adult justice. The authors’ primary recommendation is that the age of juvenile court jurisdiction be raised to 21, with additional, gradually-diminishing protections for young adults up to age 24 or 25.
Report: Technology-Involved Harassment Victimization: Placement in a Broader Victimization Context
NIJ-supported researchers from the University of New Hampshire analyzed response data from 791 youth, ages 10-20, related to their experience with technology-involved harassment victimization (PDF, 28 pages). Results show that 54% of harassment was in-person only, 15% involved technology only, and 31% involved both (known as “mixed incidents”). Mixed incidents were more likely to result in overall negative emotional impact, while technology-only harassment incidents were among the least problematic and upsetting to youth.
Archived Webinar: Preventing Bullying Through Science, Policy, and Practice
This archived webinar presents a briefing on the release of a consensus report on the state of the science on the: 1) biological and psychosocial consequences of peer victimization, and 2) risk and protective factors that either increase or decrease peer victimization behavior and consequences. The report will discuss the next steps needed in the intervention and prevention of bullying to help inform policy, practice, and future research on promising approaches to reduce peer victimization, particularly for the most at-risk populations.
Report: Campus Sexual Assault in the United States
This report includes a review of prevalence estimates for campus sexual assault in the United States published between January 2000 and February 2015. Results show that estimates of rape varied widely, largely due to differences in measurement and definitions of sexual assault among studies.
Resource: Remedial Coursetaking at U.S. Public 2- and 4-Year Institutions
This report provides an analysis of beginning postsecondary students’ coursetaking between 2003 and 2009, documenting the scope, intensity, timing, and completion of remedial coursetaking and its association with various postsecondary outcomes.
Report: Developmentally Appropriate Criminal Justice Responses to Justice-Involved Young Adults
This report (PDF, 87 pages) presents findings of an environmental scan that identified programs addressing the developmental needs of young adults involved in the criminal justice system. It also discusses legislation with provisions sensitive to the developmental level and maturation of justice-involved young adults.
Resource: Using Procedural Justice to Improve Community Relations
This video features Michael Davis, Director of Public Safety at Northeastern University, describing the concept of procedural justice and how it can be integrated into policing operations to improve community relations and address crime challenges.
Report: The Role of Technology in Youth Harassment Victimization
This bulletin (PDF, 12 pages) discusses key findings from the Technology Harassment Victimization study. Conducted between December 2013 and March 2014, this study examined technology-involved harassment within the context of other types of youth victimization and risk factors.
Report: National Survey of Teen Relationships and Intimate Violence
This report (PDF, 18 pages) by NORC at the University of Chicago describes a study that measured the nature and scope of teen dating violence, including who perpetrates such violence and who has been victimized. The study found that approximately two thirds of youth who were in a relationship, or had been in one in the past year, reported they had been victimized (69%) or perpetrated violence (63%).
Resource: Hidden Consequences: The Impact of Incarceration on Dependent Children
This article summarizes the range of risk factors facing children of incarcerated parents. It also cautions against universal policy solutions that seek to address these risk factors but do not take into account the child's unique needs, the child's relationship with the incarcerated parent, and alternative support systems. Correctional practitioners and other service providers can use this resource to better understand how their communication and collaboration can foster a safety net for children and facilitate successful re-entry for the incarcerated parent.
Resource: Considering Family Context as an Important Element in the Prevention and Intervention of the Development of Teen Dating Violence
This article describes two NIJ-funded studies that highlight the importance of family context in the development of aggression and teen dating violence. Organizations that serve parents of high-risk youth can use this information to inform how they address mental health, marital conflict, and parenting skills.
Resource: Drug Courts
This article (PDF, 2 pages) provides an overview of the varying types of drug courts. Criminal defendants and offenders, family members, criminal justice practitioners, and drug treatment professionals can use this information to understand the purpose and function of drug courts and to find related research and resources.
Report: Summary of School Safety Statistics
This report (PDF, 12 pages), developed by NIJ’s Comprehensive School Safety Initiative, draws on data collected by multiple federal agencies to examine common beliefs pertaining to school safety statistics and provides evidence to support or dispel each of them.
Report: Effects of Child Maltreatment, Cumulative Victimization Experiences, and Proximal Life Stress on Adult Crime and Antisocial Behavior
This report describes a study examining the long-term effects of child abuse and neglect to understand the pathways between child maltreatment and adult criminal behavior. Researchers compared records of abusive parenting to self-reported criminal involvement in adulthood, as well as antisocial behavior during middle childhood and adolescence.
Report: Predicting Intimate Partner Violence for At-Risk Young Adults and Their Romantic Partners
This report describes a study examining the developmental and familial pathways to intimate partner violence involvement in young adulthood and identified partner influences on intimate partner violence.
Resource: School Safety: By the Numbers
This resource (PDF, 2 pages), produced by the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative, examines statistics about school safety and violence, including the rates of school crime and school shootings, security measures in schools, the occurrence of traumatic events at school, and the role of social media in making threats. Education professionals, policymakers, and other stakeholders can use this information to develop responses to school violence.
How Americans Are Expanding Their Use of the Internet (2001) Chapter 5: How Young People Have Embraced Computers and the Internet
A report by the U.S. Department of Commerce: Children and young adults have embraced new information technologies in large numbers. More than any other age group, these younger age groups use computers and the Internet widely for many of their daily activities.
How Access to Technology Benefits Children
This site includes a report, created by the Department of Commerce, which contains 11 stories about people who are working hard to ensure technology will enhance the lives of children.
Adolescent Literacy Research Network
The Adolescent Literacy Research Network is a partnership of The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), and Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), designed to support each agency's effort to enhance literacy and employment skills of young American adults.
Rural Education Resource Center
The Rural Education Resource Center is designed to disseminate information regarding research and practice to stakeholders on a wide range of topics of particular importance to schools and communities in rural America and to bring renewed attention to the problems and issues of students in rural schools.
Prevalence and Implementation Fidelity of Research-Based Prevention Programs in Public Schools
This report from the Study of the Implementation of Research-Based Programs to Prevent Youth Substance Abuse and School Crime offers the following information which can be applied to gang prevention efforts: collecting background information on substance abuse and school crime, identifying research-based programs and practices, using data collection instruments, developing implementation fidelity measures, and collecting, processing, and analyzing data.
Report: Advancing Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education
This report (PDF, 94 pages) provides key data that illustrate the educational inequities and opportunity gaps that continue to exist for students of color and low-income students in accessing and completing a quality postsecondary education. It also highlights the Obama Administration’s efforts to promote diversity in institutions of higher education, and provides recommendations for states, colleges, and universities to promote higher education access and inclusion for all students.