As the Department of Justice's research, development, and evaluation agency, NIJ has always been a reliable source of the latest knowledge on criminal justice. In 2002, NIJ developed seven agency-wide strategic goals in three main areas: (1) creating knowledge, (2) dismissing information, and (3) managing the agency's programs.

The primary challenge for criminal justice professionals today is not from the number of crimes, however, but from the changing nature of the crime landscape. Although traditional criminal activities such as juvenile delinquency, gangs, burglary, and violent crimes remain problems for many communities, law enforcement agencies now face such new threats as the evolving globalization of crime, possible terrorism, and cybercrime.

Although youth suicide in the community has been identified as a major public health problem, juvenile suicide in confinement has received scant attention. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) awarded a contract to National Center on Institutions and Alternatives to conduct the first national survey on juvenile suicide in confinement. The primary goal was to determine the extent and distribution of juvenile suicides in confinement (i.e., juvenile detention centers, reception centers, training schools, ranches, camps, and farms). The survey gathered descriptive...

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is dedicated to researching, developing, and evaluating crime control and justice issues. NIJ creates resources for State and local criminal justice agencies that are relevant, timely, and cost-effective. Within the U.S. Department of Justice, NIJ is a component of the Office of Justice Programs.

Sexual assault in the nation's prisons continues to be a complex problem of concern to both prison officials and policy-makers. To date, fe research studies have investigation sexual violence in specific correctional institutions, and their results cannot be extrapolated to the nation prisons population due to how limited the studies were.