The Justice Lab
The Justice Lab is a working group comprised of individual faculty in the Department of Criminal Justice. The lab promotes the use of research to advance knowledge and address issues of crime and social justice (hereafter, justice) by translating empirical research into useable best-practice policies and programs, education, and technical assistance that improve public safety and enhance justice in the City of Detroit, its surrounding areas, and beyond.
A key component of this mission is encouraging partnerships that help bridge the gap between researchers, practitioners, and communities. In pursuit of this mission, the lab will encompass three mutually reinforcing components: 1) evidence-based educational programming for practitioners, students, and community members 2) externally funded policy, programmatic, and evaluation research and 3) partnerships with public and non-profit agencies to provide technical assistance in responding to crime and related problems.
The lab will serve as a hub for these activities by fostering relationships with justice-related agencies, connecting faculty with these agencies, providing research collaborations between faculty and agencies/communities, and providing agencies/communities with evidence-based educational programs.
Faculty affiliates
- Shanhe Jiang, professor
- Yuning (Bonnie) Wu, associate professor
- Bradley Smith, professor
- Charles F. Klahm IV, associate professor
- Jennifer Wareham, associate professor
- Matt Larson, assistant professor
Research
City of Detroit specific research
- Larson, M., Xu, Y., Ouellet, L., & Klahm, C. (2019). Exploring the impact of 9398 demolitions on neighborhood-level crime in Detroit, Michigan. Journal of Criminal Justice, 60, 57-63.
- Papp, J., Smith, B., Wareham, J., & Wu, Y. (2017). Fear of retaliation and citizen willingness to cooperate with police. Policing and Society. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2017.1307368
Metro-Detroit research
- Wu, Y., Klahm, C., & Atoui, N. (2017). Fear of crime among Arab Americans in a culture of fear. Ethnic & Racial Studies, 40(14), 2431-2500.
- Wu, Y. & Wareham, J. (2017). Perceived risk of crime: A tale of two immigrant groups in Metro-Detroit. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 15, 117-137.
- Sun, Ivan, & Wu, Yuning. (2015). Arab Americans' confidence in police. Crime & Delinquency, 61, 483-508.
- Wu, Yuning, & Wen Jiebing. (2014). Fear of Crime among Chinese Immigrants in Metro-Detroit. Crime, Law, and Social Change, 61, 495-515.