Community Violence Intervention
Through a combination of street outreach by credible messengers and behavioral science-informed interventions, community violence intervention (CVI) programs help de-escalate stressful situations before they lead to violence.
The vast majority of gun homicides in America result from arguments that spiral out of control and turn deadly when a gun is present. That’s why CVI programs, such as behavioral science-informed interventions, can significantly reduce violence involvement by helping people cope with untreated trauma and learn to de-escalate conflicts. Given how little we know about alternative responses to gun violence — and the very high costs this violence imposes on our most vulnerable communities — this promise provides a clear rationale to continue studying the CVI model.
The Crime Lab conducts rigorous evaluations of CVI programs and works to find ways to make them even more effective at reaching the individuals at greatest risk of violence, providing the right supports to improve outcomes, and scaling those successes.
Becoming a Man, a program delivered by Youth Guidance that provides young people with behavioral science-informed interventions, can reduce violent crime arrests by nearly 50%.
Our evaluation of READI Chicago, delivered by Heartland Alliance, estimated a return of $4-$20 in social good to society for every $1 spent on the program
Rapid Employment and Development Initiative (READI) Chicago
READI Chicago is a gun violence reduction initiative that provides almost two years of intensive programming to men at the highest risk of shooting or being shot.
Community Safety Leadership Academies
The Community Safety Leadership Academies, composed of the Policing Leadership Academy and Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy, aim to educate police and community violence intervention leaders.
Choose to Change®
The Choose to Change® program combines trauma-informed therapy with wraparound supports and aims to reduce youth violence while improving educational outcomes outside of an institutional setting.
Youth Advocate Programs
The Crime Lab and Education Lab, in partnership with Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. (YAP), conducted a randomized controlled trial of YAP’s wraparound advocacy services to evaluate the program’s impact on youth academic outcomes and violence engagement outcomes.
Latest Updates
The best way to cut gun violence, and it’s almost free
In an op-ed for Crain’s Chicago Business, Crime Lab Pritzker Director Jens Ludwig highlights the importance of using data-informed practices to improve public safety and shares key insights from behavioral economics that provide a playbook for addressing gun violence that is both effective and low-cost.
Research on cognitive behavioral therapy for at-risk youth
Dr. Nour Abdul-Razzak joins host Jennifer Doleac on the Probable Causation podcast to discuss the Choose to Change program—an intervention that integrates trauma-informed therapy with comprehensive support to reduce youth violence and improve educational outcomes.
Deaths of decision-making are killing American teens. Schools can fix it.
Crime Lab executive director Katie Hill pens an op-ed for Brookings about how cognitive behavioral programs can teach teens decision-making skills that can dramatically reduce violence and save lives – often at little or no additional cost.
