Criminology

Greening vacant lots reduces depression in city dwellers

People living within a quarter mile of greened lots had a 41.5 percent decrease in feelings of depression and a nearly 63 percent decrease in self-reported “poor mental health,” compared to those who lived near the lots that received no intervention.

Katie Delach, Michele W. Berger

Philly as lab, classroom, and collaborator

Philadelphia’s rich history and forward momentum make it ripe for scientific inquiry for a number of Penn schools and departments, from urban and population studies to medicine and anthropology.

Michele W. Berger

Brain stimulation decreases intent to commit assault

Research from Penn Medicine and the Criminology department shows that using minimally invasive electrical currents on the prefrontal cortex can reduce the desire to carry out such violence and increase the perception that it’s morally wrong.

Michele W. Berger

Wrongful convictions reported for 6 percent of crimes

For capital crimes like rape and murder, wrongful convictions happen in about 3 to 5 percent of cases. Such an estimate had proved elusive for the prison population as a whole—until now, thanks to work from Penn criminologists.

Michele W. Berger

Short-term effects of Daylight Saving Time

Assaults decrease by 3 percent the Monday after the switch to Daylight Saving Time in the spring, according to research from Penn criminologists.

Michele W. Berger

Cleaning up vacant lots makes neighborhoods safer

Removing trash and debris, grading land, planting new grass, and maintaining lots resulted in a 29 percent reduction in gun violence, 22 percent decrease in burglaries, and 30 percent drop in nuisances.

Michele W. Berger



In the News


Philadelphia Inquirer

Too many Philly police are no-shows in court, derailing cases and undermining our justice system

Research by Sandra Mayson of Penn Carey Law, Aurelie Ouss of the School of Arts & Sciences, and doctoral candidate Linsday Graef finds that Philadelphia police officers failed to appear in 31% of cases for which they were subpoenaed between 2010 and 2020.

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Providence Journal

Do safe injection sites increase crime rates? What a study our of Brown University found

A study in collaboration with Aaron Chalfin of the School of Arts & Sciences indicates that overdose prevention centers do not lead to increased neighborhood crime rates.

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WHYY (Philadelphia)

Philadelphians hope a cleaner city will reduce gun violence. Will Oh or Parker make it a reality?

A $3 million blight reduction project in Philadelphia is informed by Penn research showing that cleaning up trash and revitalizing vacant lots can reduce gun violence rates by as much as 29%.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

There is an invisible Puerto Rican community growing in PA’s prisons

Marie Gottschalk of the School of Arts & Sciences says that prison reforms to reduce the number of people incarcerated have been minimal.

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Boston Globe

Gregg Bigda is the poster boy of police brutality in Springfield. But the city can’t—or won’t—fire him

A 2021 Penn analysis of all complaints across the Chicago Police Department revealed that on average, officers generated 1.5 total complaints and 0.2 use of force complaints in a five-year period.

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NJ.com

When a police shooting really is justified, what do we do with our pain then?

Richard Berk of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the police shooting of Estiben Alegria-Hurtado in Elizabeth, New Jersey, is a case where 20-20 hindsight can be fairly myopic.

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