• Smart justice for superutilizers: "Using technology to rapidly identify superutilizers and link them with tailored treatment can stop costly cycles”
  • Correctional intervention for people with mental illness: “Targeting risk factors like poor anger control can add value to psychiatric treatment as usual”
  • Debt-free justice: "Stopping fees charged to caregivers for their children’s justice involvement may improve families’ financial health and young people’s outcomes"
  • Justice policy for people with mental illness: "If general risk factors lead to criminal behavior far more often than mental illness, then the policy model should be revised."
  • Firm, fair and caring relationships: "...the manner in which an officer delivers a program determines whether that program actually prevents new crimes."
  • Promoting desistance for juvenile offenders: "High-risk youth who develop more pro-social identities are less likely to reoffend."
  • Identifying new leverage points: "…precise intervention during the transition to adolescence could translate to remarkable improvement in the lives of at-risk youth.”
  • Self perceptions of risk: "With a lifetime of experience, individuals are in a better position than external evaluators to predict their own behavior."
  • Risk assessment in sanctioning: "Applied judiciously, risk assessment has much to offer the criminal justice system..."

MISSION

Welcome to Risk-Resilience Research, Professor Skeem’s lab at UC Berkeley. We strive to conduct rigorous research that informs efforts to prevent violence and improve the lives of people at-risk. We focus on people with emotional problems who are at risk for criminal behavior and justice system involvement. Broadly, our studies are designed to help identify these people (Who is at risk?), understand the factors that promote and prevent violence (What is the problem?), and inform efforts to reduce risk (How should we intervene?). Our results often challenge assumptions about the nature of the problem and suggest innovative strategies for prevention, intervention, and justice.