What We’re Listening To: Can CBT Help Troubled Young Men Stop Fighting and Stay in School?

A recent episode of Freakonomics Radio looks at an effort to reduce violence and dropout rates among young men in the Chicago Public Schools using a very inexpensive intervention: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

The episode was inspired by an NBER paper, “Thinking, Fast and Slow? Some Field Experiments to Reduce Crime and Dropout in Chicago.

In the show, researcher Sara Heller explains how she and others evaluated the impact of a cognitive behavioral therapy program called Becoming a Man. “BAM is not about vocational training or academic support or cash incentives; it doesn’t require a long-term commitment or a lot of money,” it simply helps kids learn how to control their emotions.

Freaknomics notes

The conclusion of Heller et al. is quite startling: it would seem that, for all the billions of dollars spent on complicated anti-crime programs, something as simple and cheap as CBT seems more effective in reducing crime (and, not unrelatedly, keeping teenagers in school).

– Education Next

Last Updated

NEWSLETTER

Notify Me When Education Next

Posts a Big Story

Program on Education Policy and Governance
Harvard Kennedy School
79 JFK Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone (617) 496-5488
Fax (617) 496-4428
Email Education_Next@hks.harvard.edu

For subscription service to the printed journal
Phone (617) 496-5488
Email subscriptions@educationnext.org

Copyright © 2024 President & Fellows of Harvard College