Criminology

Videotaping interrogations in Pennsylvania

The Quattrone Center has released “Videotaping Interrogations in Pennsylvania,” the first study to review Pennsylvania interrogation practices.

From Penn Carey Law

Abandoned house repairs reduced nearby gun violence

Installing working windows and doors, cleaning trash, and weeding at abandoned houses led to safety improvements and should be considered in efforts to create healthy communities, according to researchers from University of Pennsylvania and Columbia.

Kelsey Geesler

Despite lower crime rates in 2020, risk of victimization grew

Research out of Penn and the Naval Postgraduate School found that early in the pandemic the possibility of getting robbed or assaulted in a public place in the U.S. jumped by 15% to 30%, a rate that has stayed elevated since.

Michele W. Berger

Crime and the scientific method

The multidisciplinary faculty in the Department of Criminology harness diverse methodologies to improve public safety and inform policy and planning.

Blake Cole , Michele W. Berger

Well water, lead, and the link to juvenile delinquency

Research from Penn and other universities found that, compared to children with municipal water, those relying on private wells in the U.S. had a 21% higher risk of being reported for any delinquency and a 38% increased risk of being reported for serious delinquency after age 14.

Michele W. Berger

The story of immigration enforcement

In an award-winning paper, criminologist Aaron Chalfin examines the public safety implications of labor market-based immigration enforcement.

From OMNIA



In the News


Philadelphia Citizen

Cleaner streets are key to Philly’s success

Two studies by the Urban Health Lab at Penn found that gun violence dropped significantly in neighborhoods where vacant parcels were turned into regularly maintained green spaces.

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The New York Times

Death and the city

In a 2021 essay, Aaron Chalfin and John MacDonald of the School of Arts & Sciences argued that a number of changing factors made it difficult to isolate the precise combination of ingredients behind the COVID pandemic’s surge in violence.

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The Washington Post

Stanton Samenow, psychologist who studied ‘criminal personality,’ dies at 81

William S. Laufer of the Wharton School says that Stanton Samenow’s influence on criminal psychology will remain, even if at the foundation of future research.

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Vital City NYC

Social control works: Lessons for criminal justice reformers

John MacDonald of the School of Arts & Sciences outlines seven key facts about crime and criminal offenders.

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The New York Times

Thieves break into vehicle and make off with $200,000…in dimes

Aaron J. Chalfin of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the theft of millions of dimes at a Walmart parking lot in Philadelphia was probably committed by people who knew that the money would be there.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Want to tackle gun violence? Think about trees

Research by Eugenia C. South of the Perelman School of Medicine, John MacDonald of the School of Arts & Sciences, and Vincent Reina of the Weitzman School of Design shows that fixing up dilapidated homes in low-income Philadelphia neighborhoods is an effective way to prevent shootings.

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