Andrea DaViera Ph. D.

Overview

Research lab: Community Power and Systems of Solidarity (COMPASS)

Education

· Ph.D. in Community and Applied Developmental Psychology awarded in 2024 by the University of Illinois Chicago

· M.A. in Community and Applied Developmental Psychology awarded in 2019 by the University of Illinois Chicago

· B.S. in Psychological Sciences awarded in 2015 by Purdue University

Current Instructor

Applied Research Methods in Community Settings

Academic Interests and Expertise

Andrea DaViera is an assistant professor and community psychologist who integrates research and action to inform real-world systems change. Her specific areas of research inquiry include understanding connections between, and consequences of, structural violence and interpersonal violence, with aims to use this knowledge to collaboratively create systems of safety and solidarity. Her methodological expertise spans quantitative, qualitative, and community-engaged approaches. Before coming to Wichita State University, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Tulane University with the Violence Prevention Institute and Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health. In addition to her career as a researcher, she has over a decade of experience as a community organizer.

Areas of Research Interest

Violence prevention, social change, community organizing, coalitions, policing, health inequity, neighborhoods, youth development

Areas of Teaching Interest

Research methods, community psychology, organizational and policy studies

Publications

DaViera, A. L., Fleckman, J., & Roy, A. L. (2026). “It’s never just [you], it’s the whole campus community”: Developing solidarity through antiracist student organizing. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000737

DaViera, A., Bailey, C., Lakind, D., Kivell, N., Areguy, F., & Byrd, K. (2024). Identifying abolitionist alignments in community psychology: A path towards transformation. American Journal of Community Psychology, 73(44–56). https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12678

DaViera, A., Uriostegui, M., Gottlieb, A., & Onyeka, O. (Cynthia). (2023). Risk, race, and predictive policing: A critical race theory analysis of the strategic subject list. American Journal of Community Psychology, ajcp.12671. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12671

DaViera, A., Roy, A. L., Uriostegui, M., & Fiesta, D. (2020). Safe spaces embedded in dangerous contexts: How Chicago youth navigate daily life and demonstrate resilience in high-crime neighborhoods. American Journal of Community Psychology, 66(1–2), 65–80. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12434

DaViera, A., & Roy, A. (2020). Chicago youths’ exposure to community violence: Contextualizing spatial dynamics of violence and the relationship with psychological functioning. American Journal of Community Psychology, 65(3–4), 332–342. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12405