Jeffrey Sharlein is a PhD student in social welfare in the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice (SP2). Prior to entering the program, he worked directly with urban youth in numerous contexts in New York City and Detroit. Sharlein holds a BA from Wesleyan University and an MSW from Hunter College, where he was awarded the 2006 Jacob Goldfein Award for Scholarship. A 2012-2013 recipient of SP2’s Chai Doctoral Fellowship, Sharlein’s dissertation research focuses on understanding how inner-city youth who have engaged in serious offending behavior understand that behavior in relation to the neighborhood context.