Who we are and what we do
Knowledge and policies for justice, security and inclusion social in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The UC Justice and Society Center (CJS UC) is a Latin American-focused research and policy center at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, the highest-ranked higher education institution in the region.
Our lines of action:
- Training – We develop human capital.
We have trained hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students, as well as professionals through continuing education, in subjects such as the sociology of crime, criminology, drug programs and policies, organized crime, vulnerable childhood and adolescence, social reintegration, white-collar crime, and access to justice, among other topics. - Research – We promote knowledge.
Throughout our history, we have carried out academic publications and studies with a major impact on public policies in Chile and Latin America, contributing to the generation of knowledge in the region. - Incident – We generate impact and transformation.
We engage in public and legislative debates that impact the fields of justice, security, and social exclusion, through political and legislative advocacy, conferences, expert committees, and the media.
Our academics and professionals have led studies in the following research lines:
- Childhood and Adolescence
Protection of rights
Juvenile Justice - Drugs
Prevention
Treatment and social integration
Control policies - Public Security
Police officers
Fear
Crime prevention - Justice System
Access to justice
Prosecutor's Office, Judiciary, and Public Defender's Office
Victims - Prison System
Prison
Alternatives to imprisonment
Social reintegration and desistance
Our team, distinguished by its vast experience in both the academic and public policy fields, uses sophisticated quantitative methodologies, such as longitudinal and experimental designs, in addition to innovative qualitative methods and ethnographic techniques. Adopting research, training, and advocacy as its axes of action, the work produced at the Center has made it possible to answer complex research questions and social problems.
Regional focus
Latin America is one of the regions with the highest levels of violence, fear, insecurity, inequality, and institutional weakness, conditions that shape the work of the CJS UC and its commitment to working with local governments, international organizations, other universities, and civil society organizations. We encourage South-South collaboration with countries and study centers to promote knowledge and best practices.
Comprehensive view
Through an interdisciplinary team comprised of sociologists, lawyers, psychologists, economists, criminologists, and journalists, we seek to understand in a critical and comprehensive way criminal complexity, justice, and populations that are invisible and on the margins of society.
Mission
With more than a decade of experience, CJS UC seeks to produce relevant knowledge and contribute to the development and analysis of public policies that promote a fairer and safer society.
Our objectives
General objective
Understand the phenomenon of crime and social exclusion in a comprehensive way, considering their deepest causes, the state response, and the processes of social reintegration.
Specific objectives
- Produce relevant research that helps understand the problem of crime and social exclusion in its nature, scope, and implications in contemporary society.
- Transmit and disseminate these subjects through high-quality undergraduate and graduate teaching.
- Promote interdisciplinary integration with an emphasis on the articulation of the social, economic, and legal sciences.
- Focus on the design, implementation, and evaluation of programs and public policies related to crime prevention and control, as well as opportunities for social reintegration.
We have worked with
