On September 16, CSBS kicked off the first event in the inaugural Visionary Voices Lecture Series with Jens Ludwig, Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago and director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab, co-director of the Education Lab, and co-director of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s working group on the economics of crime. His recent book Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence framed much of the afternoon’s discussion.
Ludwig began with stories of tragic losses to gun violence, including incidents that occurred close to his office at the University of Chicago. These experiences underscored for him not only the devastating personal toll of violence — “behind every data point is a mother who has lost the most important person in her world,” he remarked — but also the urgent need for deeper study of why violence happens in the first place. That urgency led him to found the Crime Lab nearly two decades ago, with the goal of generating evidence-based solutions that could save lives and reduce harm.
Ludwig explained that much of the traditional thinking about gun violence, especially from the fields of economics and public policy, rests on the assumption that people act as rational decision makers. By this logic, harsher punishments should deter violent behavior, and better social supports should reduce the appeal of crime. Ludwig argued that this framework misses a crucial distinction — in moments of gun violence, people are not weighing costs and benefits carefully but rather are often automatically responding to stimuli and stressors.
Woven throughout the talk, Ludwig drew from years of research in Chicago to illustrate how context shapes violence. He highlighted that one key difference between neighborhoods with high and low levels of gun violence is often in the built environment. More people out on the streets and more visible activity can make residents and visitors feel safe in their daily lives. Even smaller changes, like new streetlights or a business opening its doors in a neighborhood, are associated with lower crime.
Ludwig explained how the strain of living in poor neighborhoods accumulates and has an impact on crime. Noise, pollution, lack of access to opportunity, and persistent safety concerns tax mental bandwidth. These conditions make it harder to pause and weigh choices, and more likely that responses to perceived threats will be immediate or reflexive. In these environments, one such reflexive response could be that any challenge is met with violence, not necessarily as a calculated choice, but as an automated response.
Throughout the talk, Ludwig stressed that violence cannot be explained by laws or individual choices alone. Recognizing this, he argued, opens the door to more effective interventions that address the realities of the gun violence epidemic in our country. The talk closed with a discussion of a promising intervention – Becoming a Man program (BAM) – that has proven to reduce violent arrests among youth in Chicago. Research shows the BAM program cuts violent crime arrests by nearly half, demonstrating the powerful impact of mentoring and skills training on young people’s lives.
The evening closed with a lively question and answer session, followed by a reception where conversation continued. CSBS thanks Professor Ludwig for setting the tone for the Visionary Voices series and the many attendees who engaged in thoughtful discussion. Learn more about Ludwig’s new book, Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence.
The Visionary Voices Lecture Series highlights scholars whose work demonstrates the essential role of social and behavioral science in addressing complex societal challenges, offering the campus and community a chance to engage with pioneering research.