Ann Marie Popp, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Sociology Department
Office: 518 College Hall
412.396.6495
poppa2842@duq.edu
Dr. Popp joined the faculty of the Policy Center in the fall of 2007. Her policy interests include crime and criminal justice, social inequality, and urban policy.
Before joining the faculty at Duquesne University, Dr. Popp was a member of the faculty at the University of South Carolina Aiken and of Siena College. In addition, Dr. Popp was the project coordinator for a study identifying barriers to client participation in a food assistance program for the New York State Department of Health.
Education
B.A., University at Albany, Sociology, 1990
Ph.D., University at Albany, Sociology, 2003
Research, Publications and Service
Dr. Popp's research interests include the causes of bullying and criminal victimization in schools, the relationship between the development of the urban underclass and the distribution of urban crime rates, and the organizational effectiveness of human service agencies.
In July 2007, Dr. Popp participated in the Ohio State University's Crime and Justice Summer Research Institute, where she explored the utility of Opportunity Theory in explaining criminal victimization among middle and high school students. From the summer research institute, she completed an article entitled "The Impact of Target Suitability on Criminal Victimizations in School," which explores how to improve our measurement of suitable targets to better capture student vulnerabilities.
Dr. Popp is currently working on a paper entitled "The Effectiveness of Schools as Capable Guardians in Preventing School Victimization," which assesses whether schools can reduce student victimization through the implementation of security measures. In collaboration with Dr. Anthony Peguero of Miami University (Ohio), Dr. Popp is exploring if female and male victimization can be explained using the same concepts drawn from Opportunity Theory in an article entitled "Gender, Opportunity, and Victimization."
Statement
Through my work as a project coordinator, I learned the importance of research for human service organizations, where study findings were implemented to provide better services to clients enrolled in a nutrition assistance program. Therefore, I believe that research should be employed to develop sound policy initiatives that address the problems plaguing our communities and once these policy initiatives have been implemented, they should be regularly evaluated by researchers to ensure the policy initiatives are fulfilling their goals. My teaching goal is to enable students to develop their research skills and to enlarge their knowledge of the social world so the students can contribute to the common good by conducting research on social problems and policy initiatives.