Entries by Jeffrey Ian Ross

Although lived or practitioner experience may be helpful in understanding a field, it’s not an end in and of itself

A considerable amount of confusion exists surrounding the concepts and utility of lived and practitioner (or field) experience as methods to inform scholarly research. Part of the reason may be because many people fail to consider how knowledge and expertise are acquired, and the relative contributions and limitations of lived and practitioner experience to inform […]

Street Culture is more than streetwear

Surf the world wide web, or skim social media, and you might notice that the label, term and concept “street culture” is primarily associated with clothing – sneakers, baseball caps, or t-shirts – produced by existing, emerging, or brand new streetwear companies (e.g., BAPE, Stüssy, Supreme, etc.). Although a definition of street culture is rarely […]

What’s causing the trend in flash mobs engaging in “smash-and-grab” thefts of luxury goods & how might we respond?

Over the past few weeks there’s been a considerable amount of news media coverage of flash mob “smash-and-grabs,” also known as flash robs, of luxury items from retail stores throughout the United States. True, stores like Best Buy, CVS, and Home Depot have been subject to this kind of victimization, but luxury items like clothing, […]

CONVICT CRIMINOLOGY FOR THE FUTURE translated into Portuguese & published as A CRIMINOLOGIA DOS CONDENADOS E O FUTURO

This week Francesca Vianello’s (University of Padua) and my edited book Convict Criminology for the Future was published as A Criminologia dos Condenados E O Futuro, by Brazilian publisher Tirant Lo Branch. During this process, not only were we significantly assisted by respected Brazilian Criminologist Dr. Maria Lucia Karam, who graciously and masterfully translated the […]

Three cheers for divisions in learned societies

One of the principle concepts in the field of cell biology is mitosis. This natural process occurs when a cell or organism splits into two. A similar situation happens in many learned societies (e.g., American Sociological Association, American Political Science Association, etc.). Over time, as knowledge accumulates and new people study a phenomenon, they may […]