“Thinking, Fast and Slow? Some Field Experiments to Reduce Crime and Dropout in Chicago”, A Seminar by Professor Sara Heller, Assistant Professor of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania

The Columbia Population Research Center

is pleased to invite you to

“Thinking, Fast and Slow? Some Field Experiments to Reduce Crime and Dropout in Chicago”

seminar by

Sara Heller

Assistant Professor of Criminology

University of Pennsylvania

Thursday, October 8th, 2015

12:00 – 1:00 PM

Columbia School of Social Work

1255 Amsterdam Avenue, Room 1109

(between 121st and 122nd streets)

Videoconference:

Mailman School of Public health

Department of Sociomedical Sciences

722 West 168th Street, Room 555

**Please RSVP by Tuesday, October 6^th. 

https://cupop.formstack.com/forms/rsvp. Lunch will be provided for those who RSVP to attend at the School of Social Work.

Abstract: We present the result of three large-scale randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of interventions carried out on the south and west sides of Chicago. All the interventions involve using cognitive behavioral therapy-based programming to improve the outcomes of low-income youth. Two of our RCTs test a program called Becoming a Man (BAM) developed by Chicago-area non-profit Youth Guidance; the first, carried out in 2009-10, shows that participation improved schooling outcomes and reduced violent-crime arrests by 44%, while the second RCT in 2013-14 shows that participation reduced overall arrests by 31%. The third RCT was carried out in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC) in 2009-11 and shows reductions in return rates of 21%. We discuss the possibility that the programs work by reducing automatic behavior. While generally adaptive, automaticity – responding to situations without conscious deliberation – is sometimes deployed in situations where it is ill-suited. Although this is equally true for all youths, disadvantaged youths face greater situational variability. Improving decision-making by helping these youth make slower, more reflective decisions may contribute to these programs’ success in addressing negative outcomes like crime and school failure.

Speaker Bio: Sara Heller is an assistant professor of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania. She studies interventions to reduce crime and improve other life outcomes among disadvantaged youth. She uses large-scale experiments to isolate the causal effects of a variety of programs, including cognitive behavioral therapy-based interventions and summer jobs. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy form the University of Chicago, a M.P.P. from Georgetown, and a B.A. in Psychology from Harvard.

For additional information regarding the Fall 2015 CPRC Seminar series please visit: 

http://cupop.columbia.edu/events/seminar-series/cprc-seminars