Associate Professor Leah Jacobs's work was featured in the new University of Pittsburgh 2023-24 Annual Research Report:
The U.S. prison population has grown 500% since 1973, and recent policy discussions have explored ways to control and reduce this trend. A Pitt social work scholar is working to understand how and why the country turned to hyperincarceration to address social problems—and how we can use social interventions to reduce incarceration and enhance public safety.
Her recent work focuses on the ways law enforcement interacts with the public, especially young people.
“We know that one of the greatest predictors of incarceration is prior experience in juvenile legal systems, so if we want to stop incarceration and reincarceration, we need to intervene when people are first introduced into the system,” says Leah Jacobs, associate professor in the School of Social Work. Read more.