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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.
Seven Popular Myths About Contemporary Street Culture
/by Jeffrey Ian RossStreet culture has received considerable attention in the popular press, on social media, and increasingly in scholarly circles. One of the things where less attention is spent is on a reasonably acceptable definition. In short, Street Culture can be defined as “the beliefs, dispositions, ideologies, informal rules, practices, styles, symbols, and values associated with, adopted […]
Stairwells Are More Than Passageways
/by Jeffrey Ian RossThe built environment has numerous underappreciated liminal spaces, and stairwells are among them. If we examine these structures more closely, we notice many types. They vary based on their placement in a building (e.g., internal versus external), how many sides are surrounded by walls (e.g., open versus closed), their design (e.g., monumental, spiral, split scissors, […]
The Proportionality of Positionality Statements
/by Jeffrey Ian RossOver the past few decades, several critical theories (e.g., Colonialism/Anti-Colonialism, CRT, Gender, Intersectionality, etc.), research methodologies (e.g., Reflexivity, Lived Experience, etc.), and intellectual discourses have significantly shaped scholarship, pedagogy, and, public debate. When applied thoughtfully and in their intended manner, these theories, methods, and discourses can be powerful tools for understanding complex and sensitive topics […]