As a standing board of the National Academies, the Committee on Law and Justice (CLAJ) operates by assembling a panel of experts who develop an agenda that responds to a national need for policy-relevant research evidence in the areas of law and justice. In addition to having applied insights from developmental psychology to new approaches to justice-involved youth, prior Committee reports, such as “The growth of incarceration in the United States” (2014) and “Reforming juvenile justice: A developmental approach” (2013), have documented that the U.S. has the highest rate of incarceration in the world and disproportionately incarcerates young men of color and those from low socioeconomic levels. For 2017-2019, CLAJ priority topics include examining justice system impact on racial and ethnic minority populations, understanding the relation between mental illness and justice system involvement, improving conditions of youth and young adult confinement, and examining law enforcement practices enabled by new technologies. This award, which fills a gap in the Committee’s core funding, will provide support for CLAJ leadership activities toward reduce inequality in outcomes for justice-involved youth and young adults.
This award supports the Committee’s efforts to improve public policy and decision making by promoting the understanding and dissemination of research in matters involving law and justice.
