Research Areas
Adverse Childhood Experiences
Child Health & Well-Being
Gender, Deviance, & Crime
Incarceration
Biography
Dr. Jones’ research efforts center on exploring how exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and other forms of trauma shape life outcomes across the life course and how these processes may vary by groups. To that end, her research focuses primarily on the associations between experiencing trauma and various health and behavioral outcomes, including involvement in crime and delinquency.
Selected Publications
Hoffmann, John P., and Melissa S. Jones. (In press). “Cumulative Stress and Adolescent Substance Use: A Review of Twenty-First Century Literature.” Trauma, Violence & Abuse. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1524838020979674
Jones, Melissa S., Hayley Pierce, and Constance L. Chapple. (In press). “Early Adverse Childhood Experiences and Self-Control Development Among Youth in Fragile Families.” Youth & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0044118X21996378
Pierce, Hayley, and Melissa S. Jones. 2022. “Gender Differences in the Accumulation, Timing, and Duration of Childhood Adverse Experiences and Youth Delinquency in Fragile Families.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 59(1):3-43. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F00224278211003227
Pierce, Hayley, Melissa S. Jones, and Benjamin G. Gibbs. 2022. “Early Adverse Childhood Experiences and Exclusionary Discipline in High School.” Social Science Research 101:102621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2021.102621
Jones, Melissa S., Meredith G. F. Worthen, Susan F. Sharp, and David A. McLeod. 2021. “Native American and Non-Native American Women Prisoners, Childhood Adverse Experiences, and the Perpetration of Physical Violence in Adult Intimate Partner Relationships.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence 36(23-24):11058-11087. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0886260519897328
Jones, Melissa S. 2020. “Exploring Coercive Control, PTSD, and the Use of Physical Violence in the Pre-Prison Heterosexual Relationships of Incarcerated Women.” Criminal Justice and Behavior 47(10):1299-1318. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0093854820920661
Jones, Melissa S., Meredith G. F. Worthen, Susan F. Sharp, and David A. McLeod. 2018. “Life as She Knows it: The Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Intimate Partner Violence Among Women Prisoners.” Child Abuse & Neglect 85:68-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.08.005