The mission of the Institute on Public Safety and Social Justice (IPSSJ) at the Adler School is to promote social justice by increasing awareness of socially just policies and practices within the realms of law enforcement and homeland security and actively working to encourage others to adopt such practices through public dialogue and community involvement.

The Institute aims to further the work of Alfred Adler and the discipline of community psychology by recognizing that safety is an essential component for communities to thrive. Addressing safety is a primary concern for all of us, and focusing on building safer, healthier communities is in line with Adler's vision for what psychology can and should do.

We believe that public safety and social justice are not mutually exclusive constructs.  The work of the Institute will elevate the discourse about the critical safety and security issues we face.  We aim to push the conversation forward – toward effective public policy, community participation in public safety endeavors, and policing and security practices that make sense in our current national and global contexts.

IPSSJ's objectives for creating social change include:

• Community outreach that addresses community-identified social justice issues and Technical assistance to address those issues;
• Public education and awareness to encourage public dialogue around national safety and security and socially just policy issues;
• Applied research that informs public safety and national security policies and practices.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• June 2, 2010 - IPSSJ Presents "Violence as a Social Determinant of Mental Health" at the Social Determinants of Mental Health Conference

PAST EVENTS

• The Faces of Poverty Photography Exhibit ~ 2/4/10
• How Do We Measure Police Behavior? A New National Approach. ~ 1/27/10 
• Urban Campus Safety Tips ~ 11/16/09 
• The Perils of Preventive Law Enforcement in the War on Terror ~ 10/19/09 
• The Path From Street Violence to Rehabilitation ~ 10/14/09
• Attention Felons: Chicago's Project Safe Neighborhoods ~ 9/16/09

OUR GOAL 

The Adler IPSSJ is interested in launching a public discussion that explores what can be done to promote public safety and national security through socially just policies and practices.

The work of the IPSSJ will:

• Analyze current public safety and homeland security policies and procedures with regard to social justice;
• Engage in practical work that encourages communities to work with their public safety officials to build safer, healthier communities;
• Stimulate public discourse on the balance between public safety and security and individual and group rights to privacy and civil liberties.

"As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, ... faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake."

         President Barack Obama
         Inaugural Address, January 20, 2009