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.
Selected Publications
- Roman, C. G., Talley, A., Sierka, C., George, K., Van de Water, K., & Aye, J. (2025). Collaborative creation of a logic model and performance metrics for evaluating a violence reduction program. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. (Forthcoming).
- Roman, C. G., Roman, J. K., Washburn, A., Brey, J. T., Navarro, E. I., Rodriguez, S., Reist, B. M., Ko, P., Collins, K., & Truchil, A. (2025). The cost of crime: The HAVEN conceptual framework for measuring victim harms from violence. Justice Quarterly. (ePub).
- Roman, C. G., & Nyugen, T.-T. (2025). Beyond the collective: Personal networks in the study of street gang processes. Journal of Criminal Justice, 96, 102338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2025.102338
- Roman, C. G., Chen, R., Natarajan, L., Conway, T. L., Patch, C., Taylor, R. B., Cain, K. L., Roesch, S., Adams, M. A., Saelens, B. E., King, A. C., Frank, L. D., Glanz, K., & Sallis, J. F. (2024). Crime-related perceptions and walking for recreation inside and outside one’s home neighborhood. Health & Place, 89, 103316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2024.103316
- Boschan, J. A., & Roman, C. G. (2024). Hot spots of gun violence in the era of focused deterrence: A space-time analysis of shootings in South Philadelphia. Social Sciences, 13(2), 119. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/2/119
- Roman, C. G. (2024). A conceptual model of help seeking by Black Americans after violent injury: Implications for reducing inequities in access to care. Prevention Science, 25, 95-107. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-022-01429-6
- Johnson, N. J., & Roman, C. G. (2022). Community correlates of change: A mixed-effects assessment of shooting dynamics during COVID-19. PloS ONE, 17(2), e0263777. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263777
- Roman, C. G. (2021). An evaluator's reflections and lessons learned about gang intervention strategies: An agenda for research. Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research. https://doi.org/10.1108/JACPR-02-2021-0576
- Roman, C. G., Cahill, M., & Mayes, L. R. (2021). Changes in personal social networks across individuals leaving their street gang: Just what are youth leaving behind? Social Sciences, 10(2),39. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10020039
- Johnson, N. J., Roman, C. G., Mendlein, A. K., Harding, C., Francis, M., & Hendrick, L. (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), 202. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci9110202
- Roman, C. G., Forney, M., Hyatt, J. M., Klein, H. J., & Link, N. W. (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, C. M., Roman, C. G., Conway, T. L., Taylor, R. B., et al. (2019). Crime and physical activity: Development of a conceptual framework and measures. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 16, 818–829. https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2018-0405
Courses Taught
- Senior Capstone: Gun Violence in Philadelphia
- 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
Media Mentions
Past PPL Faculty Fellow Caterina Roman Authored Op-ed
By Caterina G. Roman and John K. Roman
Past PPL Faculty Fellow Caterina Roman authored an op-ed titled Mayor Kenney should create a cabinet of experts to stem gun violence | Opinion...