Expertise

Violence, Gangs, Active Living and Crime, Neighborhoods, Social Network Analysis, Prisoner Reentry, Program Evaluation

Biography

Caterina Roman joined the faculty in the Department of Criminal Justice at Temple University in Fall 2008 after nearly two decades with the Urban Institute in Washington, DC. Dr. Roman has extensive experience studying the social ecology of neighborhoods, fear of crime, violence and gangs. She has been the PI or co-PI on over a dozen federally-funded evaluations of violence reduction programs. In addition to her evaluation portfolio, her body of grant-funded work includes studies that assess how the personal social networks of at risk youth and gang members influence delinquency, gun carrying, and gang membership. She recently completed a study to assess help seeking behavior and social support mechanisms used by African American men and women who have been victims of street violence. Her research often utilizes survey data combined with hard-to-access cross-systems data in an attempt to provide a broad and unique examination of the health of communities. She regularly publishes in both public health and criminology journals. She holds a PhD in sociology and justice, law, and society from American University.

Curriculum Vitae | Website

Selected Publications

• Roman, Caterina G. 2022. A Conceptual Model of Help Seeking by Black Americans after Violent Injury: Implications for Reducing Inequities in Access to Care. Prevention Science, ePub. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11121-022-01429-6
• Johnson, Nicole. J., and Caterina G. Roman. 2022. “Community Correlates of Change: A Mixed-Effects Assessment of Shooting Dynamics During COVID-19.” PloS ONE, 17(2), e0263777.
• Roman, Caterina G. 2021. “An Evaluator's Reflections and Lessons Learned about Gang Intervention Strategies: An Agenda for Research." Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, Special Issue: Reimagining Gang Research without the Police.  ePub ahead of print: https://doi.org/10.1108/JACPR-02-2021-0576
• Hyatt, Jordan M., James A. Densley, and Caterina G. Roman. 2021. “Social Media and the Variable Impact of Violence Reduction Interventions: Re-Examining Focused Deterrence in Philadelphia.” Social Sciences, 10(5) (April), 147. Open Access/full text  https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/5/147
• Roman, Caterina G., Meagan Cahill and Lauren R. Mayes. 2021. "Changes in Personal Social Networks across Individuals Leaving Their Street Gang: Just What Are Youth Leaving Behind?" Social Sciences, 10 (2) (Jan), 39. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10020039
• Johnson, Nicole J., Caterina G. Roman, Alyssa K. Mendlein, Courtney Harding, Melissa Francis and Laura Hendrick. 2020. “Exploring the Influence of Drug Trafficking Gangs on Overdose Deaths in the Largest Narcotics Market in the Eastern United States.” Social Sciences, 9(11) (November), 202. Open Access/full text: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/9/11/202
• Roman, Caterina G., Megan Forney, Jordan M. Hyatt, Hannah J. Klein, and Nathan W. Link. 2020 "Law Enforcement Activities of Philadelphia’s Group Violence Intervention: An Examination of Arrest, Case Processing, and Probation Levers." Police Quarterly, 23, 232- 261: https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611119895069
• Patch, Christina M., Caterina G. Roman, Terry L. Conway, Ralph B. Taylor, et al. 2019. Crime and Physical Activity: Development of a Conceptual Framework and Measures. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 16, 818-829 doi: 10.1123/jpah.2018-0405
• Roman, Caterina G., Nathan Link, Jordan M. Hyatt, Avinash Bhati, and Megan Forney. 2019. “Assessing the Gang-Level and Community-Level Effects of the Philadelphia Focused Deterrence Strategy.” Journal of Experimental Criminology, 15, 499-527: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-018-9333-7
• Roman, Caterina G., Hannah Klein and Kevin T. Wolff. 2018. “Quasi-Experimental Designs for Community-Level Public Health Violence Reduction Interventions: A Case Study in the Challenges of Selecting The Counterfactual.” Journal of Experimental Criminology, 14, 2, 155-185. DOI: 10.1007/s11292-017-9308-0

Courses Taught

• Senior Capstone: Criminal Justice Reform
• Senior Capstone: Critical Issues in Prisoner Reentry
• Youth and Crime
• Honors Youth and Crime 
• Street Gangs (graduate and undergraduate)
• Communities and Crime (graduate level)
• Crime and Social Policy
• Nature of Crime