Scholarly fields develop in a haphazard manner. Those interested in exploring the vicissitudes of a subject, may for one reason or another contribute to the body of knowledge by writing a conference paper, article or even book. Overtime due to competing demands and interests, these researchers may become disinterested, distracted, or exhausted, and move on to other fields of inquiry and pursuits.
Meanwhile our ability to learn about a subject is dependent on numerous factors. One of the most important is the accessibility and quality of written resources available to people who want to learn about a field.
Some of these (like free material available on the world wide web) are widely distributed and generally easy to access, whereas other written sources require users to make an investment of resources such as attending a class, enrolling in a program of studies, or reading an article or a book.
And just because content is freely available it’s no guarantee that it is of good quality. Sometimes it is quite the opposite.
Over the past five decades, numerous scholars have conducted research on graffiti and street art. This work has appeared as articles published in a variety of academic journals and has also resulted in close to a dozen English language academic books. These efforts have examined various theoretical concerns, such as youth subculture, masculinity, and gentrification, as they apply to graffiti and street art and the individuals who engage in this behavior. Meanwhile a handful of edited books review graffiti and street art in a comprehensive manner.
These works are important building blocks in the scholarly understanding of graffiti and street art. They are great reference tools for the field, are important building blocks in the scholarly understanding of graffiti and street art, and are the basis of important discussions held by people deeply interested in graffiti and street art.
However, there are noticeable shortcomings with some of these books. These drawbacks mainly revolve around the fact that they are outdated, take narrow (sometimes esoteric) perspectives on the subject matter, ignore significant relevant scholarship, are overly academic in tone, and can be comparatively quite pricey.
The development of scholarship on graffiti and street art is predictably uneven, being shaped more by academic arguments, interests of the scholars who conduct research on this subject, and the gatekeeping activities performed by editors and reviewers for academic journals and publishing companies.
Meanwhile, the field of graffiti and street art is frequently changing including, but not limited to, the important role and influence of social media websites like Facebook and Instagram, responses by municipalities, and the increasing commodification of graffiti and street art.
Although serendipity has its advantages in some domains, a book on graffiti and street art that not only treats the subject matter in a comprehensive manner, but is also up to date and engaging could prove to be very helpful.
This book, would integrate scholarly research, interviews with practitioners, and images of graffiti and street art to explain the fields’ growth, the people who engage in this activity, and reactions to it, accessible to non-specialists and scholars alike. The book would also review causes, reactions, and so-called solutions to challenges generated by the existence of graffiti and street art.
Until then knowledge about graffiti and street art will be more idiosyncratic in the manner it is collected and presented to wider audience.
https://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_6991-scaled.jpg14672560Jeffrey Ian Rosshttps://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/jeffrey-ian-ross-logo-04.pngJeffrey Ian Ross2021-09-09 21:10:402023-02-13 19:29:24On the need for a low cost, comprehensive, and up to date introductory book on graffiti and street art
Everyday young boys and girls, all across America, are sent by their teachers to the principal’s office because they believe that they were “acting out,” are stopped by police (and questioned, searched, and sometimes arrested), or they are compelled to go in front of judges and sentenced to a period of time in a juvenile detention facility.
In the United States, we know that this is especially prevalent among young black and latino males, resulting in the infamous school to prison pipeline.
Invariably this often sets up a dynamic where children become drawn deeper and deeper into a criminal lifestyle which is increasingly difficult to get out of. This entire process is a waste of human potential and institutional and public resources often shouldered by taxpayers.
If you are a concerned caregiver, guardian, loved one, parent, relative, social worker, or other similar professional, then you have probably thought quite a bit about (and perhaps even struggled) with how to best guide children under your care, to minimize the possibility that they will become involved in or continue to participate in deviant and criminal activities and spend a lifetime cycling in and out of jail and prison.
There are numerous reasons why young people engage in deviance, delinquency and crime. In general, the causes for juvenile crime closely mirror those that lead to adult crime. Some of the more prominent factors include:
• Lack of proper guidance/good role models, and poor supervision
• Abusive and toxic families
• Being born into or being raised in families and situations where criminal lifestyles are normative
• A society that glamorizes crime/violence in human interactions and popular culture
• Peer pressure and wanting to fit in
• Immaturity
• Lack of or poor after school activities
We can spend considerable resources trying to determine which causes are the most prominent. But this does not necessarily lead us to appropriate solutions.
There are, however, a number of practical strategies that we can implement to minimize the possibility that our youth don’t go down that slippery slope and become involved in the criminal justice system.
So what is/are the answer/s? The good news is that there are numerous approaches and institutions that have been successfully used to minimize children from descending into a life of crime. Some of them are more prominent than others, and some are better able at minimizing the possibility that our children will visit the principal’s office, coming to the attention of the criminal justice system, and eventually going to jail or prison. None of them are easy to implement. Nevertheless, they include, but are not limited to:
• Educating our children about the role and practices of the police. (So that they understand that they are neither all good guys nor all bad guys).
• Addressing racism that is systemic in all institutions
• Using fewer offensive terms to call children who engage in deviant and criminal activities, to avoid the negative effects of stigma that this kind of labelling entails
• Removing children from criminogenic situations
• Better access to quality therapy, food and nutrition, and safe spaces to escape their challenging home lives.
• Increased funding to educational institutions that offer engaging instruction and curricula
• Encouraging more and better parental involvement.
• Providing abundant, diverse, properly supervised, managed and led meaningful after school activities (e.g., sports, boy scouts, girl scouts, boys and girls clubs of America, etc.)
• Minimizing screen time (esp., violent television programs and computer games)
Regardless of the intervention we chose to pursue, we need to examine each child and situation in a wholistic manner. We should not apply a one size fits all method. What is certain, however, is if we can address the criminogenic factors early on in a child’s life, then we might be able to prevent them from later getting involved in criminal activities.
Indeed, children need to learn from their mistakes. And there should be appropriate consequences for their actions. But by providing proper education, health resources, and supportive environments, they can actually grow from their experience and get the necessary guidance they so critically need.
Photo credit
Photographer: Stuart McAlpine
Title: Juvenile Detention Center
https://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/6183476085_c0ac850eef_o-scaled.jpg16202560Jeffrey Ian Rosshttps://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/jeffrey-ian-ross-logo-04.pngJeffrey Ian Ross2021-09-02 18:56:532021-09-29 20:07:13Preventing our children from ending up in juvie hall
Over time, we adopt numerous roles. One of the most dominant is that of consumer.
As we mature we learn both the written and unwritten rules of purchasing goods and services, including the rules of the game surrounding fairness, competition, and expectations.
Meanwhile, in this day and age most people, living in advanced industrialized democracies, who have a functioning credit card and internet connection, can purchase just about anything on-line.
That’s because many of the items that we needed or wanted to buy at retail stores are now available for sale on-line, and they can be shipped to almost anywhere Fed Ex or UPS drivers can get to, sometimes on the same day.
This situation has both advantages and disadvantages.
On the plus side we have accessibility and convenience. No longer do we need to travel to a store, and possibly deal with fellow consumers, pesky sales people, and long lines at the checkout counters. Websites that amalgamate different products allow us to sort by price, etc.
The immediacy of these kinds of transactions is seductive. We have developed very high expectations from vendors and shippers and the people and organizations who provide these kinds of goods and services.
In a complimentary fashion, unless you are buying a bookcase from IKEA, no actual labor is really demanded of you, and thus most economic transactions that we participate in, we purchase the product or the service, sit back, relax, and enjoy the benefit it provides.
For example, we subscribe to Netflix. We look at its offerings and because they are abundant, scroll through the movies and series until we find one that interests us.
Alternatively if we want to buy a sofa on line, we chose the preferred manufacturer, size, the pattern, and the delivery date. And some weeks later it arrives, and we use it.
Then again there are other types of purchases where you buy it, but in order to receive the benefit it requires you to work.
There are only two kinds of commodities that I know of that fit under this category: gym memberships and higher education.
With a gym membership, regardless if it is a high end establishment like Equinox or a cheaper variety like Planet Fitness, you pay your monthly or yearly membership fees, but you need to visit the premises and do the work to receive the benefit.
With higher education, you apply, are hopefully accepted, and regardless if it’s a prestigious ivy league university, or a low ranked educational institution, if you don’t go to class, hand in your assignments, or sit for the tests, you will not pass your classes and eventually graduate.
The problem arises when we expect gyms and educational institutions to behave like other traditional economic transactions.
That’s because when you pay for a gym membership or higher education, you are paying for access to resources. However, just showing up is not sufficient. No one will do the work for you. Hoping to get fit without going to the gym or passing classes without doing the required work will not give you the benefit.
(Indeed sometimes the work you do is insufficient: you don’t push yourself enough with your exercise routine, or you fail your algebra test, but this is a different story. And this does not take into consideration unscrupulous educational institutions like diploma mills that will give you a degree without attending)
Unfortunately the truism about gyms and educational institutions is often lost on many people who treat gym memberships and higher education as a hobby or as ending simply after enrollment.
Getting fit and earning (not buying or obtaining) a diploma, or degree requires hard work and diligence. If it was simply a matter of purchasing one, then everyone with means would participate in this activity.
Photo Credit
Photographer: Nenad Stojkovic
Title of photograph: Man doing deadlift exercise in gym closeup.
https://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/51171739483_99dcf65e0a_o-scaled.jpg17092560Jeffrey Ian Rosshttps://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/jeffrey-ian-ross-logo-04.pngJeffrey Ian Ross2021-08-27 12:14:202022-10-02 12:26:03What do gym memberships and higher education have in common?
On the need for a low cost, comprehensive, and up to date introductory book on graffiti and street art
/by Jeffrey Ian RossScholarly fields develop in a haphazard manner. Those interested in exploring the vicissitudes of a subject, may for one reason or another contribute to the body of knowledge by writing a conference paper, article or even book. Overtime due to competing demands and interests, these researchers may become disinterested, distracted, or exhausted, and move on to other fields of inquiry and pursuits.
Meanwhile our ability to learn about a subject is dependent on numerous factors. One of the most important is the accessibility and quality of written resources available to people who want to learn about a field.
Some of these (like free material available on the world wide web) are widely distributed and generally easy to access, whereas other written sources require users to make an investment of resources such as attending a class, enrolling in a program of studies, or reading an article or a book.
And just because content is freely available it’s no guarantee that it is of good quality. Sometimes it is quite the opposite.
Nowhere does this seem most pertinent than the field of graffiti and street art studies.
Over the past five decades, numerous scholars have conducted research on graffiti and street art. This work has appeared as articles published in a variety of academic journals and has also resulted in close to a dozen English language academic books. These efforts have examined various theoretical concerns, such as youth subculture, masculinity, and gentrification, as they apply to graffiti and street art and the individuals who engage in this behavior. Meanwhile a handful of edited books review graffiti and street art in a comprehensive manner.
These works are important building blocks in the scholarly understanding of graffiti and street art. They are great reference tools for the field, are important building blocks in the scholarly understanding of graffiti and street art, and are the basis of important discussions held by people deeply interested in graffiti and street art.
However, there are noticeable shortcomings with some of these books. These drawbacks mainly revolve around the fact that they are outdated, take narrow (sometimes esoteric) perspectives on the subject matter, ignore significant relevant scholarship, are overly academic in tone, and can be comparatively quite pricey.
The development of scholarship on graffiti and street art is predictably uneven, being shaped more by academic arguments, interests of the scholars who conduct research on this subject, and the gatekeeping activities performed by editors and reviewers for academic journals and publishing companies.
Meanwhile, the field of graffiti and street art is frequently changing including, but not limited to, the important role and influence of social media websites like Facebook and Instagram, responses by municipalities, and the increasing commodification of graffiti and street art.
Although serendipity has its advantages in some domains, a book on graffiti and street art that not only treats the subject matter in a comprehensive manner, but is also up to date and engaging could prove to be very helpful.
This book, would integrate scholarly research, interviews with practitioners, and images of graffiti and street art to explain the fields’ growth, the people who engage in this activity, and reactions to it, accessible to non-specialists and scholars alike. The book would also review causes, reactions, and so-called solutions to challenges generated by the existence of graffiti and street art.
Until then knowledge about graffiti and street art will be more idiosyncratic in the manner it is collected and presented to wider audience.
Preventing our children from ending up in juvie hall
/by Jeffrey Ian RossEveryday young boys and girls, all across America, are sent by their teachers to the principal’s office because they believe that they were “acting out,” are stopped by police (and questioned, searched, and sometimes arrested), or they are compelled to go in front of judges and sentenced to a period of time in a juvenile detention facility.
In the United States, we know that this is especially prevalent among young black and latino males, resulting in the infamous school to prison pipeline.
Invariably this often sets up a dynamic where children become drawn deeper and deeper into a criminal lifestyle which is increasingly difficult to get out of. This entire process is a waste of human potential and institutional and public resources often shouldered by taxpayers.
If you are a concerned caregiver, guardian, loved one, parent, relative, social worker, or other similar professional, then you have probably thought quite a bit about (and perhaps even struggled) with how to best guide children under your care, to minimize the possibility that they will become involved in or continue to participate in deviant and criminal activities and spend a lifetime cycling in and out of jail and prison.
There are numerous reasons why young people engage in deviance, delinquency and crime. In general, the causes for juvenile crime closely mirror those that lead to adult crime. Some of the more prominent factors include:
• Lack of proper guidance/good role models, and poor supervision
• Abusive and toxic families
• Being born into or being raised in families and situations where criminal lifestyles are normative
• A society that glamorizes crime/violence in human interactions and popular culture
• Peer pressure and wanting to fit in
• Immaturity
• Lack of or poor after school activities
We can spend considerable resources trying to determine which causes are the most prominent. But this does not necessarily lead us to appropriate solutions.
There are, however, a number of practical strategies that we can implement to minimize the possibility that our youth don’t go down that slippery slope and become involved in the criminal justice system.
So what is/are the answer/s? The good news is that there are numerous approaches and institutions that have been successfully used to minimize children from descending into a life of crime. Some of them are more prominent than others, and some are better able at minimizing the possibility that our children will visit the principal’s office, coming to the attention of the criminal justice system, and eventually going to jail or prison. None of them are easy to implement. Nevertheless, they include, but are not limited to:
• Educating our children about the role and practices of the police. (So that they understand that they are neither all good guys nor all bad guys).
• Addressing racism that is systemic in all institutions
• Using fewer offensive terms to call children who engage in deviant and criminal activities, to avoid the negative effects of stigma that this kind of labelling entails
• Removing children from criminogenic situations
• Better access to quality therapy, food and nutrition, and safe spaces to escape their challenging home lives.
• Increased funding to educational institutions that offer engaging instruction and curricula
• Encouraging more and better parental involvement.
• Providing abundant, diverse, properly supervised, managed and led meaningful after school activities (e.g., sports, boy scouts, girl scouts, boys and girls clubs of America, etc.)
• Minimizing screen time (esp., violent television programs and computer games)
Regardless of the intervention we chose to pursue, we need to examine each child and situation in a wholistic manner. We should not apply a one size fits all method. What is certain, however, is if we can address the criminogenic factors early on in a child’s life, then we might be able to prevent them from later getting involved in criminal activities.
Indeed, children need to learn from their mistakes. And there should be appropriate consequences for their actions. But by providing proper education, health resources, and supportive environments, they can actually grow from their experience and get the necessary guidance they so critically need.
Photo credit
Photographer: Stuart McAlpine
Title: Juvenile Detention Center
What do gym memberships and higher education have in common?
/by Jeffrey Ian RossOver time, we adopt numerous roles. One of the most dominant is that of consumer.
As we mature we learn both the written and unwritten rules of purchasing goods and services, including the rules of the game surrounding fairness, competition, and expectations.
Meanwhile, in this day and age most people, living in advanced industrialized democracies, who have a functioning credit card and internet connection, can purchase just about anything on-line.
That’s because many of the items that we needed or wanted to buy at retail stores are now available for sale on-line, and they can be shipped to almost anywhere Fed Ex or UPS drivers can get to, sometimes on the same day.
This situation has both advantages and disadvantages.
On the plus side we have accessibility and convenience. No longer do we need to travel to a store, and possibly deal with fellow consumers, pesky sales people, and long lines at the checkout counters. Websites that amalgamate different products allow us to sort by price, etc.
The immediacy of these kinds of transactions is seductive. We have developed very high expectations from vendors and shippers and the people and organizations who provide these kinds of goods and services.
In a complimentary fashion, unless you are buying a bookcase from IKEA, no actual labor is really demanded of you, and thus most economic transactions that we participate in, we purchase the product or the service, sit back, relax, and enjoy the benefit it provides.
For example, we subscribe to Netflix. We look at its offerings and because they are abundant, scroll through the movies and series until we find one that interests us.
Alternatively if we want to buy a sofa on line, we chose the preferred manufacturer, size, the pattern, and the delivery date. And some weeks later it arrives, and we use it.
Then again there are other types of purchases where you buy it, but in order to receive the benefit it requires you to work.
There are only two kinds of commodities that I know of that fit under this category: gym memberships and higher education.
With a gym membership, regardless if it is a high end establishment like Equinox or a cheaper variety like Planet Fitness, you pay your monthly or yearly membership fees, but you need to visit the premises and do the work to receive the benefit.
With higher education, you apply, are hopefully accepted, and regardless if it’s a prestigious ivy league university, or a low ranked educational institution, if you don’t go to class, hand in your assignments, or sit for the tests, you will not pass your classes and eventually graduate.
The problem arises when we expect gyms and educational institutions to behave like other traditional economic transactions.
That’s because when you pay for a gym membership or higher education, you are paying for access to resources. However, just showing up is not sufficient. No one will do the work for you. Hoping to get fit without going to the gym or passing classes without doing the required work will not give you the benefit.
(Indeed sometimes the work you do is insufficient: you don’t push yourself enough with your exercise routine, or you fail your algebra test, but this is a different story. And this does not take into consideration unscrupulous educational institutions like diploma mills that will give you a degree without attending)
Unfortunately the truism about gyms and educational institutions is often lost on many people who treat gym memberships and higher education as a hobby or as ending simply after enrollment.
Getting fit and earning (not buying or obtaining) a diploma, or degree requires hard work and diligence. If it was simply a matter of purchasing one, then everyone with means would participate in this activity.
Photo Credit
Photographer: Nenad Stojkovic
Title of photograph: Man doing deadlift exercise in gym closeup.