The Untold Impact of Nonviolence Work: How Success Gets Measured in Chicago’s Hardest-Hit Neighborhoods

“When you answer questions about violence and point to individuals at high risk, that makes politicians happy because they can blame those other people,” Butts said. “There are politicians who live off of getting one group of people to vote against the other group, and this individual-level approach sustains that political energy.” Continue reading The Untold Impact of Nonviolence Work: How Success Gets Measured in Chicago’s Hardest-Hit Neighborhoods

CURBING CHICAGO CRIME, ONE JIGSAW CUT AT A TIME

“There’s a whole garden of approaches, with different styles and modalities and theories of change,” says Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. “What’s new, or seems new, is that we’ve reached the point that relying on law enforcement for all of our public safety problems became too obviously problematic.” Continue reading CURBING CHICAGO CRIME, ONE JIGSAW CUT AT A TIME

Lessons from a ‘Violence Interrupter’ as Shootings Continue to Ravage Chicago

“[Violence interrupters] are from the same streets, grew up in the same areas and had the same experiences as young people and so they just have more access and access means influence,” said Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “The possibility of influencing someone’s behavior and attitude is stronger if you come at them as an equal.” Continue reading Lessons from a ‘Violence Interrupter’ as Shootings Continue to Ravage Chicago