Can a video game improve adolescents’ mental health? Can eliminating juvenile justice fees improve families' financial health? How can firm, fair, caring relationships help justice-involved people succeed?

UC Berkeley’s Risk Resilience lab at the Goldman School of Public Policy is tackling such questions—and more. Led by Professor Jennifer Skeem, the lab is pursuing its mission to improve justice, safety, and well-being for people and communities at risk, through policy-relevant research.

“Our lab continues to focus on intersections between mental health and involvement in the justice system,” said Skeem. “We're increasingly doing work that focuses on prevention with young people.”

In one project, the RR lab is developing a video game that discourages aggression and promotes choice—and one that kids actually want to play. In collaboration with Seneca Family of Agencies’ “Unconditional Education” program and experts at the Gaming for Emotional and Mental Health Lab, they are working with students from Richmond (mostly boys between the ages of 9 and 11) who provide input on game mechanics and characters, play-test game prototypes, and give real-time advice on what they find fun and helpful.

“They have unique expertise and big opinions,” said Skeem. “They’re powerfully motivated to play games; especially with friends--and that’s why we've moved into this space. We’re moving beyond the idea that services just mean going to an office and talking with a counselor; we’re designing something  school-connected that can be an immersive part of their natural digital playground.”

As concern about mental illness among children and adolescents rise and as only 5% of youth at risk for violence and justice involvement get traditional evidence-based treatment, technology could be an unprecedented opportunity to reduce the treatment gap and provide an appealing, accessible mental health support--either as a standalone or adjunct to basic services. 

Right now, the game is in the process of being designed and play-tested. The next step will be to find out its effectiveness.

In another project, the lab is working to inform efforts to reduce incarceration rates. Some of these efforts use risk assessments. Risk assessments, according to Skeem, are a way of putting together data about a person that helps to forecast how likely it is that they’re going to reoffend. 

There has been concern that the use of these assessments could exacerbate racial disparities in the justice system. But after partnering with the US Office of the Courts and looking at data across all 94 districts in the nation, Skeem and her colleagues found that using risk assessment could actually result in both a lot less pre-trial detention and fewer racial disparities.

“We are more accurate when we use these risk assessments or algorithms than when we rely on our own intuition or judgment,” said Skeem. “And that's true whether the person making a judgment about dangerousness is a layperson, clinician, or judge.”

“If we were able to use an existing tool more systematically and broadly, we could decrease detention by 38%, increase successful release 36% and increase unsuccessful release only 1%. And those benefits--particularly successful releases--would disproportionately accrue to Black defendants,” said Skeem. 

All of the projects in the lab fall into one of three categories: “Preventing violence and promoting well-being,” “Transforming justice services and supervision,” and “Reducing inequality in the justice system.” The third also includes a project on eliminating juvenile justice fees to improve families’ financial health, on which a paper was just released this September.