Focus Area
Police Violence
Exposure to violence by law enforcement can have long-lasting effects on individual and community health, trust in institutions, and social cohesion. Research in this area investigates patterns, causes, and consequences of police violence, exploring strategies for accountability, policy reform, and community-based prevention. Faculty and projects aim to generate evidence that informs reforms, supports survivors, and strengthens collaborative approaches to safer, more equitable policing.
Researchers
Caryn N. Bell, PhD
Assistant Professor, The Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine
Specialty Areas: Socioeconomic Status, Racial Disparities
Andrea S. Boyles, PhD
Associate Professor, School of Liberal Arts
Specialty Areas: Police-Citizen Relations, Neighborhood Disadvantage & Disorder, Community Development & Engagement, Resilience & Collective Action
Julia Fleckman, PhD
Adjunct Professor
Specialty Areas: Structural and Social Determinants of Firearm Violence, Evaluation of Firearm Violence Prevention Strategies, Community-Partnered Research, Evaluation of IPV and Gender-based Violence Interventions, Restorative Approaches
Samantha Francois, PhD
Adjunct Professor
Specialty Areas: Adolescent Development, Structural Violence, Anti-racist Research
Patrick Rafail, PhD
Associate Professor, Sociology, School of Liberal Arts
Specialty Areas: Social Movements And Collective Behavior, Applied Statistics, Political Sociology, Social Control, Complex Organizations, Urban Policing
Katherine (Kat) Theall
Co-Director, Violence Prevention Institute Cecile Usdin Professorship in Women’s Health
Specialty Areas: Health Equity, Built & Social Environment, Maternal Health, Social Epidemiology
Projects
Center for Youth Equity
Enrichment 2 Empowerment
Publications
Rafail, P. (2024). Community Contexts Predicting Fatal Police Shootings of Youth, 2014–2018. Youth & Society, 56(8), 1425–1444. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118×241245145
Jahn, J.L., Wallace, M., Theall, K.P., & Hardeman, R. (2023) Neighborhood Proactive Policing and Racial Inequities in Preterm Birth in New Orleans, 2018‒2019. American Journal of Public Health, 113(S1), S21-S28. https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307079
Moody, S., Phan, J., Drury, S., Theall, K.P., Skinner, M., Haggerty, K., & Shirtcliff, E. (2023). Impact of Community Policing on Biological Markers of Health Across Development in Black Youth. Psychoneuroendocrinology 153, 106264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106264
Garcia-Hallett, J., Samuels-Wortley, K., Henry, T. K., & Boyles, A. S. (2022). Reclaiming our stories: Centering the voices, experiences, and expertise of Black, Indigenous, and women of color (BIWOC) on the carceral state (Introduction to the special issue). Qualitative Criminology, 11(3), Article 1. https://dc.swosu.edu/qc/vol11/iss3/1
Howard, L. C., Krueger, E. A., Barker, J. O., Boley Cruz, T., Cwalina, S. N., Unger, J. B., Barrington-Trimis, J. L., & Leventhal, A. M. (2022). Young adults’ distress about police brutality following the death of George Floyd. Youth & Society, 55(6), 1173–1190. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X221087282
Mattingly, D. T., Howard, L. C., Krueger, E. A., Fleischer, N. L., Hughes-Halbert, C., & Leventhal, A. M. (2022). Change in distress about police brutality and substance use among young people, 2017–2020. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 237, 109530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2022.109530
Theall, K. P., Francois, S., Bell, C. N., Anderson, A., Chae, D., & LaVeist, T. A. (2022). Neighborhood police encounters, health, and violence in a Southern city. Health Affairs, 41(2), 228–236. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01428
Theall, K.P., Francois, S., Bell, C.N., Anderson, A., Chae, D., & LaVeist, T.A. (2022). Neighborhood police encounters, health and violence in a southern city. Injury Prevention, 28(Suppl 1), A35-A35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/injuryprev-2022-SAVIR.89
Theall, K.P., Francois, S., Bell, C.N., Anderson, A., Chae, D., & LaVeist, T.A. (2022). Neighborhood Police Encounters, Health, And Violence In A Southern City: Study examines neighborhood police encounters, health, and violence in New Orleans, Louisiana. Health Affairs, 41(2), 228-236. https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01428
Boyles, A. S. (2019) You Can’t Stop the Revolution: Community Disorder and Social Ties in Post-Ferguson America. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.
Address
1440 Canal Street, Suite 1510, New Orleans, LA 70112
social media
@tulanevpi