Page 14 - RFCUNY Annual Report 2016

Peter Serrano Preeti Chauhan

Associate Professor, Psychology Associate Professor, Psychology
Hunter College John Jay College of Criminal Justice
As children, we experience an effect known as infan- Scholars and policy-makers have traditionally focused
tile amnesia, wherein we are not able to remember on felony offenses when researching the criminal
the very early events of our life. As adults, of course, justice system, overlooking the enforcement of low-
we are able to regularly recall memories. Professor er-level offenses such as misdemeanors or criminal
Serrano endeavors to understand what drives this summonses, which represents a larger proportion
difference between children and adults in the con- of enforcement actions. “The massive footprint of
solidation of memory with his two-year, $250K NIMH the criminal justice system is on this higher volume
award Difference Between Juvenile and Adult Fear activity that doesn’t get much attention,” explains
Memory Capability. Specifically, Serrano focuses on Professor Chauhan. Her initial award on the subject,
memories of fear. “The central hypothesis of this Misdemeanor Justice Project I, produced objective
project is that elevated levels of fear, anxiety and analysis and trend reports on misdemeanors and
stress alter various proteins affecting cognitive func- criminal summonses in New York City and to a lesser
tion,” states Serrano. Using rat models, Serrano has extent New York State. The success of this research
found that repeated exposure to stressful situations, propelled Chauhan’s three-year, $3.25-million Laura
in short increments, can actually consolidate a fear and John Arnold Foundation award, Research
memory. On the biological level, Serrano is exam- Network on Misdemeanor Justice, which allows for
ining changes in a specific pathway and protein, the national expansion of the program through the
known as PKMz that may be important for the con- funding of misdemeanor research in six additional
solidation of that fear memory. “This work has wider cities. “The ultimate goal is for policy-makers to use
implications for understanding PTSD in children, but this data as evidence for reforms and for scholars to
also potentially PTSD in adults.” start to focus on this area of criminal justice.”

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