Behavioral Science
By learning more about human decision-making in stressful situations, behavioral science can help us identify better ways to deal with the harms created by gun violence and a broken criminal justice system — and can help prevent these harms before they occur.
Behavioral science, which seeks to better understand human decision-making, is helping public safety researchers learn more about why individuals are vulnerable to automatic behaviors during high-stress situations — for example, why an individual might pull a trigger when an argument spirals out of control. Behavioral science gives us a new framework through which to view the consequences of difficult situations. This understanding of “criminal behavior” as “human behavior” gives us new tools we can use to reduce violence and promote justice.
The Crime Lab is developing and evaluating programs that provide behavioral science-informed training and supports to individuals at-risk of violence involvement as well as former offenders, police officers, prosecutors, judges, and others involved in the criminal justice system.
Latest Updates
Webinar Recording: Validating CJA’s Updated Release Assessment
Crime Lab Senior Research Director Greg Stoddard provided remarks at a New York City Criminal Justice Agency (CJA) webinar on the latest validation study of CJA’s release assessment tool. The release assessment, developed in partnership with the Crime Lab, is an interview used by trained staff members to estimate whether someone will return to court if released pretrial.
Curbing gun violence in Chicago doesn’t require that we first end poverty
Crime Lab leaders Katie Hill and Jens Ludwig penned an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune highlighting the root causes of gun violence and the growing body of research showing that increased neighborhood vibrancy generates surprisingly large changes in the prevalence of gun violence, by as much as 30%.
A fighting chance
In The University of Chicago Magazine’s Fall ’25 issue, Susie Allen profiles Crime Lab Pritzker Director Jens Ludwig to discuss his book, “Unforgiving Places,” which challenges conventional wisdom on gun violence and suggests new approaches to solving the problem.
