Yu-Heng (Steven) Chen is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Criminal Justice at Temple University. Steven was born and raised in Taiwan. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Law (Crime Prevention and Corrections) from Central Police University in Taiwan, a master’s degree in Human Rights and International Politics with Merit from the University of Glasgow, and a master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Temple University.
Before coming to Temple, Steven served as a correctional officer at the Agency of Corrections in Taiwan. In this role, he was responsible for foreign affairs, correctional staff training and development, and correctional policy development. Steven is recognized for spearheading initiatives that include successfully hosting more than fifty professional delegates from over fifteen countries and conducting official visits to several correctional institutions in Canada, Germany, China, and Hong Kong.
Recently, Steven was awarded two fellowships: the Modern Meta-Analysis Research Institute fellowship funded by the National Science Foundation in 2023 and the ACJS Doctoral Summit fellowship for 2024. Additionally, he received the Graduate Student Award for being recognized as the best teaching assistant from the Temple University College of Liberal Arts for 2024.
His research interests include human rights, corrections, prisoner reentry, juvenile justice, addiction, life course, comparative criminal justice, and systematic reviews. His work has been published in Law & Policy and Addiction Science & Clinical Practice. Currently, he is working on two projects. The first focuses on prisoners’ visitation and reentry with Dr. Rely Vîlcică at Temple University. The second is related to a systematic review and meta-analysis of addiction with Professor Bitna Kim of Sam Houston State University.
Faculty Advisor: E. Rely Vîlcică