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.
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 […]
Thirty Years After VIOLENCE IN CANADA
/by Jeffrey Ian RossCanada is often portrayed, by Canadians and outsiders alike, as a peaceable kingdom. A safe, polite, largely nonviolent country. Aside from a handful of gritty television series that have made their way out of Canada, the True North is generally depicted as an exceptional place to live, work, or vacation. But thirty years ago, I […]
Interpreting Graffiti and Street Art Tours
/by Jeffrey Ian RossAlthough graffiti writers and street artists are central to shaping the urban visual landscape, they don’t act alone. Behind the scenes is a network of typically low-visibility individuals and organizations that enable or obstruct these visual interventions. While considerable attention is paid to the forces that attempt to prevent and abate graffiti and street art […]