Brenna Jones, a criminal justice sciences graduate student, was awarded the 2024 Division on Critical Criminology and Social Justice (DCCSJ) Undergraduate Paper Award.

The award, presented annually by the American Society of Criminology (ASC), recognizes and honors outstanding theoretical or empirical critical criminological scholarship by an undergraduate student.

Jones, who joined Illinois State University for her graduate studies after earning her undergraduate degree at the University of Maine, has quickly made a name for herself with her groundbreaking research.

Her award-winning paper, written during her undergraduate studies at the University of Maine, focuses on the experiences of unhoused and precariously housed people and examines the stigmatization and criminalization of homelessness. It offers new insights by contrasting literature and media portrayals on homelessness.

“I am incredibly honored to receive the DCCSJ undergraduate paper award. It marks a significant milestone in my academic journey as it has greatly set off my research career,” said Jones.

The research, done under the guidance of Dr. Brian Pitman from the University of Maine, was a passion project that came to life after Jones’ participation in the Greater Bangor Houseless Collective, a grassroots organization that organizes mutual aid and low-barrier support for the unhoused community of Bangor, Maine.

Jones’ passion for social justice and commitment to driving systemic change was inspired by previous personal experiences of precarious living conditions. As part of her research, Jones interviewed 18 unhoused individuals, who offered fresh insights on the topic.

“My family struggled with housing, and it was something that I didn’t recognize as a problem until I started reading literature around the topic. Interviewing people facing the same problems I faced had this very personal effect in that I could see a lot of my own experiences in what they were talking about,” she reflected. 

Jones’ interest in the topic was particularly piqued because a lot of the research she was reading was based on the opinions of experts, police officers, and service providers, with minimal insights from people experiencing homelessness.

“Rather than just looking at the topic as homelessness being criminalized, I wanted to look at things from the perspective of the unhoused people. How are they being stigmatized? How is that stigma and devaluation of their identities leading to their criminalization?” she remarked.

Her paper stood out for its timeliness and significant contribution in addressing the global housing crisis, a problem that extends far beyond Maine, and the United States.

“If people start looking at unhoused people as human beings with autonomy, aspirations, and goals, the policies will start to reflect that perspective,” she said.

Jones hopes to continue making significant contributions to the field of criminology and to extend her research by working closely with Illinois State’s faculty members, Dr. Kaitlin Selman and Dr. Joshua Stout.

The chair of the Department of Criminal Justice Sciences at Illinois State, Dr. Donna Selman, highlighted the relevance of Jones’ research to the prevailing global problem of homelessness, emphasizing how timely her research is.

“Given the current homeless situation in Bloomington-Normal, we believe that Ms. Jones, with the guidance of Drs. Selman and Stout, will conduct meaningful research that lends itself to pursuing much-needed remedies to this persistent problem,” Selman said. “We are excited about the contributions she will make and pleased to share that her work during her time at ISU has already garnered praise in the discipline.”

Jones is set on publishing her findings and eventually pursuing a doctorate to continue her research and venture into teaching.  

“My main goal going into next semester and the year after is to get more publications on this topic. I have all the information that I learned from my past thesis in addition to preliminary findings from current research that I think needs to be shared,” she said.

Learn about the Criminal Justice Sciences Graduate program here.