By Jenna Somers
Mark Lipsey, professor emeritus of public policy at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development, has been awarded the Stockholm Prize in Criminology, the world's largest and most prestigious criminology prize. Lipsey received the award for his research on rehabilitative programs for criminal offenders, which demonstrates that these programs are effective at reducing re-offense rates.
"We at Peabody are overjoyed for Mark to be awarded the honor of the Stockholm Prize in Criminology," said Camilla Benbow, Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development. "His scholarship has given social service practitioners the necessary tools to improve their therapeutic programs and leave a positive impact on young people."
As a meta-analysis scholar, Lipsey's main line of research has been the synthesis of the findings of more than 500 studies about the effects of rehabilitation and social service programs for juvenile offenders. Collectively, these studies show that therapeutic programs-such as counseling, mentoring, and cognitive behavioral therapy-can reduce recidivism when they are implemented properly and receive adequate funding. Other work showed similar findings for various interventions with at-risk youth and adult offenders.
Lipsey's research dispels the long-held belief in criminology, known as the "Nothing Works Hypothesis," that therapeutic programs are ineffective. The "nothing works" claim arose from the many studies in the available research with small sample sizes that yielded positive though statistically insignificant findings. However, when Lipsey used newly developed meta-analysis techniques to examine these studies in conjunction with numerous others, he saw consistent, positive results that pointed toward the efficacy of most of these programs.
Lipsey's scholarship has been put into practice with social service agencies and juvenile justice systems through the Standardized Program Evaluation Protocol (SPEP). Lipsey developed SPEP to help practitioners assess how well their practices align with research, so they can improve evidence-based approaches within their programs.
Lipsey will be honored at the official ceremony in Stockholm in June 2026 along with Charis Kubrin, a scholar at the University of California, Irvine, and co-winner of the 2026 Stockholm Prize. They will share the 1.5 million Swedish kronor award (about $159,000) which will be presented in the same hall as Nobel prizes.
