NIJ Journal Issue No. 251

As an objective, the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice (NIJ) publishes the NIJ Journal to announce the Institute’s policy-relevant research results and initiatives. The cover story which includes four feature articles examines youth gangs in rural America and attempts to answer several questions: (1) where youth gangs can be found; (2) how serious is the problem of gangs in rural America; and (3) how does the problem differ from that presented by urban gangs? Some of the research presented in these articles found that rural gangs don’t seem to last and that the differences between rural and urban gangs require that those dealing with rural gangs need new ways to think about and contend with them. Following the featured articles are five additional articles focusing on a variety of criminal justice issues that includes: (1) child custody mediation and domestic violence; (2) the effects of child abuse; (3) why there are hung juries; (4) problem-oriented policing succeeds in public housing; and (5) conducting frugal evaluations of programs.