agendas are available. In addition, we have included four recommendations that CLAJ has repeatedly identified as having high priority for a crime and justice research agenda: (1) racial disparities, (2) mass incarceration, (3) deterrence and the death penalty, and (4) crime trends.

Rather than listing the research agendas by report, broad categories needing research attention are listed, and relevant recommendations from various reports are described. There are eight categories:

1. understanding the nature of crime and what influences criminal behavior;

2. the effect of crime on victims;

3. deterring criminal behavior through policy, policing, community actions, and safety technologies;

4. detecting criminal behavior and threats to personal and global security;

5. enhancing the collection and forensic analysis of evidence;

6. advancing the application of justice;

7. developing effective practices for recidivism and desistance; and

8. improving criminal justice research, assessment, and evaluation.

References to the relevant studies are provided for each recommendation. All referenced reports can be found on the National Academies website, http://www.nationalacademies.org.

This category includes recommendations calling for baseline data collection, basic research to ascertain numerous factors, including demographic and situational ones that influence criminal behavior; risk factors for juvenile offending; extended examination of known influences, such as drugs and gambling; and the availability of firearms. These recommendations call for research on the following topics and issues:

1. Development and maintenance of new data collection systems for gun violence (National Research Council, 2005a).

2. Individual-level studies of the association between gun ownership and violence as well as individual-level studies of the link between firearms and both lethal and nonlethal suicidal behavior to determine whether a causal link can be firmly established (National Research Council, 2005a).

3. Role of factors in prenatal, perinatal, and early infant development on mechanisms that increase the likelihood of healthy develop-