NCJ Number
167625
Date Published
1996
Length
11 pages
Annotation
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is discussed with respect to thoughts about the use of research findings and other criminal justice information in policy-making and its recent efforts to apply advanced information technologies to disseminate criminal justice information.
Abstract
NIJ sponsors studies on a wide range of criminal justice topics; develops techniques for law enforcement; and supports promising programs as experimental or demonstration programs. NIJ increasingly uses advanced information technology to communicate and disseminate findings. Criminal justice research has been used to inform policy-making in the United States in many areas. However, the use of research in policy-making is hindered by the relative lack of attention given to criminal justice research, the lack of immediate results of such research, the assumptions that drive policy-making, and the nature of criminal justice research traditions. Nevertheless, practitioners' acceptance of research is increasing, substantial resources will probably be provided for evaluative research, and criminal justice research is leading policy-makers to consider new alternatives. NIJ is committed to a multi-year research agenda and uses advanced information technologies. It has put the National Criminal Justice Reference Service online, teamed with the Eurasia Foundation to develop an electronic library for the exchange of information on the rule of law, and led the effort to develop an Internet-based system to integrate the United Nations system with other automated networks. Several actions are needed to make the technology more widely available in the world.