Capacity Building
We help public safety partners maximize their impact by providing technical assistance and evidence-based recommendations to inform program design, implementation, and scaling.
Gun violence can’t be solved by research alone – it takes government agencies, community-based organizations, and community members working together to put research findings into practice. That’s why the Crime Lab partners with agencies and organizations to build their capacity by embedding analysts in-house, conducting independent project evaluations, and providing data-driven tools and recommendations.
Latest Updates
Combining Mentorship and Therapy, Program Aims to Prevent Teen Violence Before It Happens
Matt Masterson for WTTW News covers the Crime Lab’s study of Choose to Change, a six-month intervention that combines “near-peer” mentorship and cognitive behavioral therapy to help steer teens away from violence and get them back on a more successful track.
In Chicago, cognitive behavioral therapy shows promise curbing youth violence
NPR’s Meg Anderson reported on Chicago’s Choose to Change (C2C), a program that combines trauma-informed therapy with wraparound supports and aims to reduce youth violence. The Crime Lab found that the program can effectively and sustainably reduce violence involvement and the likelihood of being arrested.
Coming April 21, 2025 – Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence
Crime Lab Pritzker Director Jens Ludwig authored a book that argues the lack of progress in reducing gun violence ultimately stems from our having misunderstood the nature of the problem, and that behavioral science gives us a new way to understand – and solve – gun violence in America.
