Research into Desistance from Crime, FY 2019

With this solicitation, NIJ seeks to build upon its research efforts to understand and aid in accelerating the process of desistance from crime. Applicants should propose research projects that have clear implications for criminal justice policy and practice in the United States. NIJ encourages applicants to submit proposals for innovative approaches to advance the field’s conceptualization of desistance, novel ways of understanding the processes underlying desistance from crime, and integrating desistance into criminal justice practice and policy.NIJ is particularly interested to receive applications for: > Research on the dynamic process of desistance that considers changes in individual offenders’ psychological states, developmental capacities, life events, and social context and how these changes relate to changes in offending over time. > Research to better understand the underlying mechanisms inherent in the process of desistance from crime, in particular whether and how these mechanisms may vary by race/ethnicity, gender, neighborhood context, and the like. > Research on desistance from crime for subgroups of offenders or those who specialize in specific crime types for example burglars, drug offenders or violent offenders. > Research that includes longer term follow-up periods for previously collected data or evaluations of programs that demonstrated promise for reducing offending. > Formative examinations of criminal justice programs or practices that fully incorporate desistance principles into their logic models and theories of change.