AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
A Natural Experiment in Reform: Analyzing Drug Law Policy in New York City, New York, Quantitative Data, 2006-2012

On January 1, 2011, the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) launched "A Natural Experiment in Reform: Analyzing Drug Law Policy in New York," which was funded by the National Institute of Justice, and conducted by Vera, with the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York, and the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University. This study sought to analyze the effects of recent changes in drug offense sentencing laws in New York State (NYS) and chronicle New York City's experience with drug law reform (DLR). This includes changes in sentencing outcomes for felony drug cases, reoffending, and cost implications, with the hope of informing NYS policy makers, and provide other states across the nation with research to inform their own DLR efforts.
Specifically, this study revolves around the following objectives: 1) describe how the DLR is reflected in actual sentencing outcomes and the extent to which practices of judges, lawyers, and defense attorneys have shifted in response to the reforms; 2) investigate how treatment diversion impacts reoffending and 3) analyze the cost implications of changing drug law sentencing policies. Researchers analyzed administrative data to describe the impacts of reforms on sentencing decisions, collected New York City arrest data for drug felonies between October 1, 2006 and September 30, 2011, and evaluated outcome data measuring recidivism and costs between pre and post DLR periods.
Numerous variables tracking offenders' progress through the criminal justice system were collected including admission to the Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison (DTAP) program, arrest and disposition jurisdictions, charges, sentencing, and drug court screening and admission. Arrestees' criminal history and rearrest figures, as well as their sex, race, and ethnic demographics were collected also.

Tags: cost-effectiveness, diversion-programs, drug-laws, drug-offenders, felony-offenses, mandatory-sentences, recidivism, reform
Organization: Department of Justice
Bullying, Sexual, and Dating Violence Trajectories From Early to Late Adolescence in the Midwestern United States, 2007-2013.


These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they there received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except of the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompany readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collections and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

This study tested a model of individual, familial, and peer variables that additively and synergistically increased or decreased the risk for sexual and teen dating violence based on bullying experiences in early adolescence. The study surveyed 1,162 students from three cohorts in four Midwestern middle schools, who were then followed into three high schools. Five waves of surveys collected information about the level of violence in student homes with parents and siblings or with other children, physical abuse, sexual abuse, exposure to domestic violence, frequency of bullying, self-reported delinquency, and exposure to delinquent friends during the middle school years. Waves six and seven were collected during high school and sexual violence and teen dating violence measures were added to the surveys.


Tags: abuse, abused-children, adolescents, bullying, dating-social, delinquent-behavior, domestic-violence, high-school-students, high-schools, middle-schools, school-age-children, school-violence, sex-offenses, sexual-assault, sexual-behavior, violence
Organization: Department of Justice
Research on Offender Decision-Making and Desistance From Crime: A Multi-Theory Assessment of Offender Cognition Change, United States, 2015-2019

This study is largely exploratory and observational, with the main goals to understand (a) how cognitions change across time, (b) which cognitions are related to each other, and (c) which cognition measures are related to recidivism. Employing a two-phase program of research, this study sought to answer several research questions about the relationship between cognitions and desistance from crime:

What cognitions do probationers self-identify as key beliefs that motivate their desire to desist from crime?
What are the psychometric properties of newly developed standardized measures designed to assess desistance cognitions?
Do probationers differ in their crime and desistance cognitions and, on average, do these cognitions change across time? 
How are crime and desistance cognitions related to official-record assessment and outcome data? Specifically, are there associations between self-reported cognitions and risk and strength factors rated by supervision officers?
Do crime and desistance cognitions predict future revocations and arrests as hypothesized by rational choice, correctional psychology, and / or desistance theories?

Variables include offender's self-report of their personal perception on the costs and benefits of crime, costs and benefits of attempting to stay crime-free, attitudes, impulsive traits, and emotions. A demographic variable is available: participant gender.

Tags: cognition, crime, offender-profiles, offenders, probationers, recidivism, recidivism-prediction
Organization: Department of Justice
Comprehensive Gang Model Evaluation: Integrating Research Into Practice, Massachusetts, 2014-2018

The effects of a deliberate strategy to bolster organizational change in order to achieve the goals of the Comprehensive Gang Model (CGM) were tested in this study. The CGM goals of increasing community capacity to address gang and youth violence and reducing gang and youth violence were examined. A quasi-experimental design was used wherein two Massachusetts cities received a relational coordination intervention to boost organizational change and two similar Massachusetts cities were used as comparisons. Surveys, observational notes, and crime data assessed outcomes of interest. The intervention was carried out from March 2016 through August 2017. Survey and observational data were gathered during that time. Crime data from January 2014 through December 2018 was utilized to examine outcomes.

Tags: crime-control-programs, crime-prevention, gang-violence, gangs, organizational-behavior
Organization: Department of Justice
Using Gatekeeper Training as a CVE Tool: Replication and Evaluation of a Gatekeeper Program in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, 2019

This study evaluated Global Citizen's Forum (GCF), an afterschool youth program designed as a peer gatekeeping program in the area of violent extremism. GCF was implemented in two private high schools in Maryland during spring of 2019. Although the study was designed as a quasi-experimental research with pre/post testing of treatment and control groups, implementation challenges resulted in design problems and a small sample, allowing only for exploratory study. The preliminary results suggest that GCF is associated with some statistically significant gains in participants' knowledge and attitude. The study also presents team's qualitative findings as well as GCF replication framework and financial cost analysis. An assessment of the GCF implementation experience and related observations indicates that GCF may be difficult to replicate due to community sensitivities about accepting the violent extremism threat and the ability of service providers to teach the GCF curriculum. For conclusive and reliable results, this study needs to be replicated with participation of a larger sample.

Tags: gatekeeping, global-citizens-forum, violent-extremism
Organization: Department of Justice
Prosecuting Trafficking in Persons Cases: An Analysis of Local Strategies and Approaches, United States, 2009-2018

This project
examined practices and initiatives undertaken by prosecutors across the United
States to address trafficking in persons (TIP) in order to learn about TIP case
identification and case building; when jurisdictions prosecute utilizing their
state's TIP statute or alternative charges; and how prosecutors approach victim
identification, serving victims, and increasing convictions and penalties for
traffickers and buyers. It also sought to draw lessons learned that other
jurisdictions can use to begin this work or increase their capacity and
effectiveness, regardless of size or location. This project was a partnership
between the Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA) and the National
District Attorney's Association (NDAA) and consisted of two phases. Phase I was
a national survey of prosecutors and Phase II was a series of four case studies
in jurisdictions undertaking anti-TIP initiatives.
The results of the
survey are intended to provide a national snapshot of trends in local TIP
prosecutions and the use of state-level TIP statutes by local prosecutors. It
serves as a ten-year update to, and expansion of, previous research on local prosecutorial
approaches to trafficking that had used data on cases prosecuted through 2008.

Tags: human-trafficking, prosecution, sex-trafficking, victimization
Organization: Department of Justice
Evaluating the Law Enforcement, Prosecutor, and Court Response to Firearm-related Crimes in St. Louis, 2015-2018

This study examines the entire range of case-processing decisions after arrest, from charging to sentencing of firearm-related crimes. This study analyzes the cumulative effects of each decision point, after a charge has been issued, on the subsequent decisions of criminal justice officials. It examines criminal justice decisions regarding a serious category of crime, gun-related offenses. These offenses, most of which are felonious firearm possession or firearm use cases, vary substantially with respect to bail, pretrial detention, and sentencing outcomes (Williams and Rosenfeld, 2016). The focus of this study is St. Louis, where firearm violence is a critical public problem and where neighborhoods range widely in both stability and level of disadvantage. These communities are characterized on the basis of a large number of demographic and socioeconomic indicators. The study aims to enhance understanding of the community context of the criminal justice processing of firearm-related crimes.

Tags: court-cases, court-system, criminal-justice-policy, criminal-justice-system, firearms, legal-systems
Organization: Department of Justice
Criminal Justice Researcher-Practitioner Placement Program: Reading Intervention, Academic and Behavioral Outcomes for Adolescents: A Community Agency and University Partnership Project, Indiana, 2016-2018

This randomized control trial study aimed to examine whether a targeted reading intervention improved outcomes for juvenile justice involved youth in court-affiliated treatment settings. The data includes reading level assessments at four month intervals and educational, behavioral, and cognitive assessments.

Tags: adolescents, cost-effectiveness, intervention, juvenile-courts, literacy-education
Organization: Department of Justice
A Comparative Study of Violent Extremism and Gangs, United States, 1948-2018

The study assesses the extent of commonalities between individuals who become involved in violent extremist groups and criminal gangs, and the processes by which individuals engage in each group. Following this comparison, the extent to which the empirical results support the potential for anti-gang programs to bolster the resilience of communities against violent extremism and other forms of crime is assessed.
Quantitative assessment was conducted by comparing individuals included in the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) dataset with a subset of individuals drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) along a number of demographic, social, and socioeconomic characteristics.
Supplementary survey data was also collected from 45 former and current gang members in the United States concurrently with long-form interviews, covering a range of variables including background characteristics, demographic information, and attitudes among the respondents.

Tags: crime-patterns, criminality-prediction, extremism, gang-members, gangs, offender-profiles, radicalism, terrorism
Organization: Department of Justice
Understanding School Safety and the Use of School Resource Officers in Understudied Settings: Survey Data, Southern United States, 2017

The Understanding School Safety and the Use of School Resource Officers in Understudied Settings project investigated school resource officers (SROs) within settings that have received almost no attention in the empirical literature: elementary schools and affluent, high performing school districts. This project was guided by four research questions: 1) Why and through what process were SROs implemented? 2) What roles and activities do SROs engage in within schools? 3) What impacts do SROs have on schools and students? 4) How do the roles and impacts of SROs differ across school contexts? Survey data come from the districts' SROs, and a sample of teachers, school leaders, students, and parents. Survey data was collected between spring of 2017 and fall of 2017.

Tags: law-enforcement, school-police, school-security
Organization: Department of Justice
Firearm Involvement in Delinquent Youth and Collateral Consequences in Young Adulthood: A Prospective Longitudinal Study, Chicago, Illinois, 1995-1998

This study contains data from the Northwestern Juvenile Project (NJP) series, a prospective longitudinal study of the mental health needs and outcomes of youth in detention. 
This study examined the following goals:  (1) firearm involvement (access, ownership, and use) during adolescence and young adulthood; (2) perpetration of firearm violence over time; and (3) patterns of firearm victimization (injury and mortality) over time.  This study addressed the association between early involvement with firearms and firearm-firearm perpetration and victimization in adulthood.
The original sample included 1,829 randomly selected youth, 1,172 males and 657 females, then 10 to 18 years old, enrolled in the study as they entered the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center from 1995 to 1998. Among the sample were 1,005 African Americans, 524 Hispanics, and 296 non-Hispanic white respondents. Participants were tracked from the time they left detention. Re-interviews were conducted regardless of where respondents were living when their follow-up interview was due: in the community, correctional settings, or by telephone if they lived farther than two hours from Chicago. 

Tags: detention, firearm-violence, firearms, juvenile-crime, juvenile-detention, juvenile-offenders, risk-factors
Organization: Department of Justice
Evaluation of a Hot Spot Policing Field Experiment in St. Louis, 2012 - 2014

These data are part of NACJDs Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
The two central objectives of this project were (1) to evaluate the effect on crime of a targeted patrol strategy mounted by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) and (2) to evaluate the researcher-practitioner partnership that underlay the policing intervention.
The study addressed the following research questions:

Do intensified police patrols and enforcement in crime hot spots result in larger reductions in firearm assaults and robberies than in similar areas subject to routine police activity?
Do specific enforcement tactics decrease certain type of crime?
Which enforcement tactics are most effective?
Does video surveillance reduce crime?
How does the criminal justice system respond to firearm crime?
Do notification meetings reduce recidivism?
Does community unrest increase crime?
Did crime rates rise following the Ferguson Killing?

To answer these questions, researchers used a mixed methods data collection plan, including interviews with local law enforcement, surveillance camera footage, and conducting ride-alongs with officers.

Tags: arrests, crime, crime-control, law-enforcement, police, surveillance, violent-crime
Organization: Department of Justice
Identity and Framing Theory, Precursor Activity, and the Radicalization Process Dataset from the American Terrorism Study, 1972-2008

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
This study sought to empirically test one of the most widely cited perspectives relative to radicalization and the growth of social movements - Identity and Framing Theory. Identity and framing perspectives contend that radicalization towards violence can be theorized as a process which entails a journey, typically from a non- or less-radical identity and corresponding orientation, towards a more radical identity and corresponding orientation which enhances the likelihood of employing targeted forms of violence because the prospect of desired change is seen as laying outside the realm of legitimate modes of challenge and expression within the targeted institutional arena. As implied, a key component of the process is the adoption or evolution of a radical identity.
The study collection includes 1 SPSS data file (ATS_NIJ_FRAMING_QUANTITATIVE_DATASET.sav, n=465, 16 variables) and 1 Excel data file (ATS_NIJ_FRAMING_QUALITATIVE_DATASET.xls, n=38, 17 variables).

Tags: extremism, radicalism, terrorism, terrorists
Organization: Department of Justice
Experimental Comparison of Telepsychiatry and Conventional Psychiatry for Mentally Ill Parolees in California, 2011-2015

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
The main goal of the study was to empirically measure the effectiveness of Telepsychiatry for mentally ill parolees.Parolees enrolled in the study were assigned to either face-to-face sessions with their psychiatrists for the duration of their treatment or telepsychiatry sessions with their psychiatrist, in which the parolees interacted with their assigned psychiatrist via a web-based screen interface. Administrative records data on recidivism was collected for everyone who consented to be randomized in this study.

Tags: medical-care, medical-technology, medications, mental-disorders, mental-health-services, parolees, recidivism, telecommunications
Organization: Department of Justice
Lone Wolf Terrorism in America: Using Knowledge of Radicalization Pathways to Forge Prevention Strategies, 1940-2013


These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.


Typically, NACJD's Fast Track Release requires all direct identifiers to be removed or masked.  As the sources of information for this collection are publicly available, direct identifiers were left within the collection.


This study created the largest and most comprehensive database ever created to date on lone wolf terrorism.  It includes 1 Excel data file (LONEWOLF_NIJ_HAMM_SPAAIJ_2014_unlocked.xlsx; n=98, 23 variables).  The information was gathered from an extensive review of previous research, biographies and memoirs, journalistic sources, government reports, court documents, encyclopedias and documentary films.


Qualitative interviews were conducted as part of this research, but these interviews were not made available for archiving.


Tags: criminal-histories, mental-disorders, political-violence, radicalism, terrorism, terrorist-profiles, terrorists
Organization: Department of Justice
Process Evaluation of the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Program at the W.J. Maxey Boys Training School in Michigan, 1995-1998

This study was an evaluation of a Residential Substance
 Abuse Treatment (RSAT) program intended to reduce substance abuse and
 recidivism among youth placed at the W.J. Maxey Boys Training School
 in Michigan. The purposes of the evaluation were to describe the
 activities of the RSAT program and the relationship between program
 participants and success in the new program. There were five primary
 evaluation questions: (1) Were the participants appropriate? (2) Was
 the staff trained to deliver the planned services? (3) How did service
 delivery vary over time? (4) Did the participants make timely
 progress? and (5) What organizational factors changed service delivery
 and participant progress? Residents were admitted to the RSAT program
 and its comparison group on the basis of three criteria: (1) the
 resident was not a sex offender, (2) he had a known substance abuse
 history, and (3) he was expected to be released within one year. Youth
 in the RSAT program underwent intensive substance abuse
 psycho-education and relapse prevention in addition to the treatment
 provided in the Maxey Model. Intake data from the Family Independence
 Agency Information System (Part 1) were gathered for youths who
 entered Maxey between 1995 and 1998. These data were used to determine
 if significant differences existed between the RSAT and comparison
 groups. Additional data were collected through a client survey (Parts
 2 and 3), which included questions that evaluated youth satisfaction
 with services and their predictions for success. Variables in Part 1
 include program admission date, whether the youth was a sex offender,
 substance abuse history, the group and wing to which the youth
 belonged, age of first offense, age of admission to Maxey, offense
 class, number of arrests, number of previous placements, number of
 truancies, legal status, and date of first and second
 offense. Demographic variables include race, age, marital status, and
 county. Variables in Parts 2 and 3 assess the youth's opinions about
 school, food, group sessions, hall staff, family sessions, family
 visits, the overall program at Maxey, teachers, police, and
 judges. Additional variables include last grade of school completed,
 expected educational goal upon leaving Maxey, family substance abuse
history, and prevalence of substance abuse in neighborhood.

Tags: correctional-facilities, drug-abuse, process-evaluation, recidivism, residential-programs, substance-abuse, substance-abuse-treatment, treatment-outcomes, treatment-programs
Organization: Department of Justice