Ciara Sheerin is a PhD student in the Criminal Justice Department. She has a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) from Temple University, as well as a Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Master of Arts (MA) in Criminal Justice from Temple. Ciara has worked throughout the criminal legal system working directly with clients, and on policy, data, and research. She has worked as a social worker at the Philadelphia Department of Prisons, an Associate Youth Ombudsperson for the City of Philadelphia's Office of the Youth Ombudsperson, and in her current role as a Youth Justice Policy Analyst at the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. Her interests focus on youth justice and critical criminology. She is currently ABD and working on her dissertation which is a narrative study exploring legal socialization among Black Americans in Southwest Philadelphia through a critical race lens. As a social worker and PhD student, Ciara is passionate about policy reform through the lens of intersectionality, anti-racist and anti-oppressive frameworks.

Faculty Advisor: Matt Hiller​