Article archive / March 1, 2016
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 3. Source pages: 7.
Dr. Tracey Rizzuto, Industrial- Organization Psychologist and Associate Director of the School of Human Resource Education & Workforce Development at Louisiana State University, was featured in a select group of scientists and professionals who shared their work and insights at the TEDxLSU event held February 28.
Dr. Rizzuto spoke on her work as a psychologist and academic researcher for the Baton Rouge Area Violence Elimination, called BRAVE, a program where her efforts and those of others have combined to reduce the crime rates in two, high crime Baton Rouge areas, by 30 percent in the last two years.
According to the press release by LSU, the TED producers search year-round for “presenters who will inform and inspire, surprise and delight. Presenters run the world's most admired companies and design its best-loved products; they invent world- changing devices and create ground-breaking media.” The competition is strong and only 12 were chosen to contribute to the popular webcast.
TEDxLSU is the only TEDx event in Baton Rouge, according to LSU. The event was held at the Shaver Theater in the LSU Music & Dramatic Arts Building. TEDxLSU was launced in 2013, and “is a platform to bring local, regional, and statewide communities together; to spur discussion and dialogue about real issues; and to generate big ideas that will move the state of Louisiana forward, forming a better way of life for the people of our great state.”
Dr. Rizzuto’s work with BRAVE has been gaining national attention. In December 2015, Rizzuo and Hillar Moore, III, East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney, traveled to New York City at the invitation of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, to give a presentation about the work at BRAVE.
Rizzuto and Moore described the group violence reduction in the Baton Rouge community in a presentation titled, “Focused Deterrence and the BRAVE Strategy (Baton Rouge Area Violence Elimination),” at a conference for prosecutors attending across the United States, who shared various information about methods for crime analysis, intelligence gathering and social mapping, as well as other methods, explained LSU in the announcement.
The Baton Rouge Area Violence Elimination (BRAVE) initiative works to reduce and eliminate violent crime committed by juveniles in Baton Rouge’s 70805 and 70802 zip code areas.
Rizzuto is part of BRAVE’s LSU Research Team led by the College of Human Sciences & Education’s Office of Social Service Research & Development. The LSU group analyzes arrest data from the Baton Rouge Police Department and East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office and then helps identify trends and group members who are committing the most crimes.
Dr. Rizzuto uses social network analysis to examine social structures and dynamics, one of her interests as an IO psychologist and professor. Her other interests include the development of social capital and capacity through technological tools; the development of social capital and capacity through social relationships, such as the power and influence social network structures; and managing workplace changes.
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