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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.
Do Blues Musicians Really Need to Suffer to Be Great?
/by Jeffrey Ian RossThere’s a long-held belief that great art requires suffering. One genre where this perception is especially prominent is blues music. Rooted in the African American experience, the blues is known for its emotional intensity, blue notes, and repeating chord structures, often conveying themes of physical, emotional, or psychological hardship. Given these origins, one might ask: […]
Everybody Knows a Richie
/by Jeffrey Ian RossLike many people who enjoy TV drama series, I’m watching the fourth season of Hulu’s The Bear. The show offers lots of compelling elements: authentic character development, realistic workplace dynamics, and narratives that resonate with broader contemporary social issues. Besides Carmen (played by Jeremy Allen White), the haute cuisine trained chef who returns home to […]
Sobering Thoughts About Academics Considering Escaping the United States
/by Jeffrey Ian RossSince winning the presidency a second time, Trump and his administration have engaged in a series of actions that have negatively impacted U.S. universities and professors. These include, but are not limited to, rescinding key DEI mandates, withholding federal research and grants funding, restricting international students and visas, investigating university responses to anti-semitism, reforming educational […]