National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Content Topic Results

These best practices emphasize the use of collaborative, victim-centered, and multidisciplinary approaches to improve evidence collection and preservation, increase consistency and provide uniformity for the prioritization and transferal of evidence, enhance laboratory process efficiencies for DNA testing, and advance investigative practices and agency protocols.

Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs) provide an organized and community-based response to sexual assault, bringing together a collection of stakeholders including rape victim advocates, medical/forensic examiners, law enforcement, and prosecutors. To understand how an effective SART works, NIJ-funded researchers studied the structure and operations of SARTS across the United States. Findings are featured in this article.

This webpage includes links to various NIJ-funded research studies examining the nature, characteristics and extent of dating violence.

This article describes a study of the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP), which is a partnership between law enforcement agencies and domestic violence service providers developed by the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence.

This report highlights process evaluation findings from six of the eight sites participating in the Defending Childhood Demonstration Program, a national initiative that the Department of Justice funds and OJJDP supports to address children’s exposure to violence.

This Research in Brief report from the National Institute of Justice examines the theme of how “peers and the contexts in which peers interact can contribute to their risk for and protection against dating violence.

This paper discusses theory-based explanations of what causes elder abuse and how best to respond to it.

This NIJ study examines the challenges facing the criminal justice system when combating human trafficking.

In this podcast series, Mary Louise Kelley is joined by Anne Menard and Eleanor Lyon to discuss a study focused on nonresidential domestic violence services.

This NIJ webpage highlights research findings on murder-suicide in the family.

This technical report provides a Spanish-language literature review of resources on sex trafficking from Latin America.

This study brief discusses best practices in forensic interviewing for child sexual abuse victims. The article gives particular attention to protecting the rights of children while still achieving better case outcomes. It also includes a section on tailoring interviews for special populations.