Latest Blog Posts
About
Criminologist, Scholar, & Consultant
Jeffrey Ian Ross, Ph.D., is a criminologist at the University of Baltimore and co-founder of Convict Criminology. His approach is shaped by nearly a decade of work before entering academia, as a courier, cab driver, corrections worker, and union shop steward. It is further grounded in three decades of visiting correctional facilities across North America, Europe, and South America, researching the conditions inside them, and having conversations with convicts and correctional officers and administrators. It also draws on interviews with formerly incarcerated people outside those facilities, and on ethnographic fieldwork on street culture and on graffiti and street art internationally. Ross has published more than thirty books and shares his expertise on corrections, policing, political crime, street culture, and graffiti and street art through scholarship, public writing, speaking, media commentary, and consulting.
Why Paying Attention to the Streets Can Change How You See the City
/by Jeffrey Ian RossMost of us move through cities on autopilot. We commute, run errands, scroll our phones, and mentally prepare for the next task. It’s functional. But in the process, we miss more than the visual landscape of the city. We miss its soul. The streets aren’t just spaces we pass through. They are living classrooms, stages, […]
Sharpening my Chops in San Sebastián
/by Jeffrey Ian RossIt’s early afternoon, and I’ve just finished shopping for fresh fish and vegetables at Mercado San Martín. Now I’m standing at the bar of a small restaurant located deep in San Sebastián’s Old Town, eating txipirones en su tinta, a Basque dish of small squid cooked in its ink, and sipping a glass of house […]
How a Global Prison Education Database Could Improve Rehabilitation Outcomes
/by Jeffrey Ian RossGovernments and private foundations spend considerable resources each year on prison education (i.e., courses in literacy, vocational skills, and higher education), believing they reduce recidivism and improve reentry success. But outcomes vary widely. Some programs transform lives; others barely make a difference. The problem? We have little reliable evidence on which work, which fails, and […]