Yu-Heng (Steven) Chen is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Criminal Justice at Temple University. Born and raised in Taiwan, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Law (Crime Prevention and Corrections) from Central Police University, 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 pursuing his doctoral studies, 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 initiatives. He played a key role in hosting more than fifty professional delegates from over fifteen countries and conducted official visits to correctional institutions in Canada, Germany, China, and Hong Kong.
Steven has been recognized with several prestigious fellowships, including the Modern Meta-Analysis Research Institute Fellowship, funded by the National Science Foundation (2023), the ACJS Doctoral Summit Fellowship (2024), and the Public Policy Lab Research Team Fellowship from the Temple University College of Liberal Arts for the 2025–26 academic year. He was also awarded First Place in the 2025 ACJS Student Panel Presentation Award.
Beyond research, Steven is deeply committed to teaching. He received the Graduate Student Award for Outstanding Teaching Assistant from the Temple University College of Liberal Arts (2024) and the M. Kay Harris Teaching Award from Temple University’s Department of Criminal Justice (2024).
His research interests include human rights, corrections, prisoner reentry, juvenile justice, addiction, life-course criminology, comparative criminal justice, and systematic reviews. His work has been published in Justice, Opportunities, and Rehabilitation, Law & Policy, and Addiction Science & Clinical Practice. Currently, he is working on two projects: one on prison visitation and reentry with Dr. Rely Vîlcică at Temple University and another on a systematic review and meta-analysis of addiction with Professor Bitna Kim at Sam Houston State University.
Faculty Advisor: E. Rely Vîlcică