Heather C. Melton Associate Professor 308 BEH S 581-3108 heather.melton@soc.utah.edu

My research focuses on violence against women and the criminal justice response to it. I locate my research in the broader theoretical framework of feminist criminology and feminist jurisprudence, with an interest in how the law and legal actors, particularly the police, interact with and affect female victims and offenders. The focus thus far has been on stalking in the context of intimate partner abuse (IPA)—a relatively new area—and gender differences in the perpetration of IPA—a hotly debated area.

Some of the major findings of my research include the following. First, my research on stalking in the context of IPA provides more context surrounding this problem including new ways it is done (i.e. “proxy” stalking) (Melton, 2007b), predictors of stalking in the context of IPA (i.e. alcohol/drug abuse by abuser, relationship status, and presence of controlling behaviors) (Melton, 2007), and arguments for the application of feminist theory to this problem (i.e. the importance of the link between stalking and IPA and the role control and power play in stalking cases)(Melton, 2000; Melton, 2007; Melton, 2007b; Melton, forthcoming, 2008). Second, my work on gender in IPA offending and victimization concludes that there are gender differences (i.e. more men are offenders and more women are victims) and that even when both men and women offend, there are some qualitative differences between them (i.e. women are more likely to be acting in self-defense, men’s violence creates more fear among their victims, and so on) (Melton & Belknap, 2003; Belknap & Melton, 2005). Finally, in my work on the criminal justice response to violence against women, specifically in connection with stalking and IPA, I found that victims are not satisfied with how the police and criminal justice personnel respond to their experiences and do not feel that the police and courts do enough to specifically address the stalking they experienced. However, contrary to some that speculate that mandatory arrest policies will increase violence, abuse, and stalking as offenders seek to retaliate against their victims, my research finds that how the courts are responding to cases of IPA does not increase subsequent stalking (Melton, 2004), indicating support for the enforcement of the criminalization of stalking and IPA.

Selected Publications

Melton, Heather C. (Invited Manuscript, forthcoming—2008). “Closing In: Stalking in the Context of Intimate Partner Abuse. Sociology Compass.

Melton, Heather C. (forthcoming—2008) “Sexual Assault” in Garcia, V. and Clifford, J. (ed.) Female Crime Victims: Reality Reconsidered. Prentice Hall.

Melton, Heather C. (2007) “Stalking in the Context of Intimate Partner Abuse: In the Victims’ Words,” Feminist Criminology, 2(4): 347-363.

Melton, Heather C. (2007) “Predicting the Occurrence of Stalking in Relationships Characterized by Domestic Violence.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 22(1): 3-25.

Melton, Heather C., and Kristjane Nordmeyer (2006) “Crime in Utah” in Zick, C.D. and Smith, K.R. (Ed.) Utah in the New Millennium: A Demographic Perspective. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press.

Belknap, Joanne and Heather C. Melton (2005) “Are Heterosexual Men Also Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse.” Harrisburg, PA: National Electronic Network on Violence Against Women, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence. http://www.vawnet.org/DomesticViolence/Research/VAWnetDocs

Melton, Heather C. (2004) “Stalking in the Context of Domestic Violence: The Criminal Justice Response”. Women and Criminal Justice. 15 (3 &4): 33-58.

Melton, Heather C. and Joanne Belknap (2003) “He Hits, She Hits: Assessing Gender Differences and Similarities in Officially Reported Intimate Partner Violence.” Criminal Justice and Behavior. 30(3): 328-348.

Melton, Heather C. (2000) “Stalking: A Review of the Literature and Direction for the Future.” Criminal Justice Review 25(2): 246-262.

Melton, Heather C. (1999) “Police Response to Domestic Violence.” Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 29 (1/2): 1-21.

Courses Taught
Sociology 3561 Criminology
Sociology 3562 Juvenile Delinquency
Sociology 3563 Policing in U.S. Society
Sociology 3565 Women and Crime