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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.
The Twelve Days of Scholarly Peer Review
/by Jeffrey Ian Ross(a revised version of a series of tweets that I originally posted on Twitter (X) December 2019) Reviewing papers for scholarly journals is an essential, unpaid service that many academics perform. But the process often raises lots of frustrations and unanswered questions. Meanwhile, unless they still have exams to evaluate and final grades to submit, […]
What Do Criminologists Wear?
/by Jeffrey Ian RossGrowing up, my friend Mark (not his real name) shared a story from his teenage years about applying for a summer job at Switzer’s Delicatessen on Spadina Avenue. Following advice from his friends—or perhaps his mother—he donned the only suit he owned—a slightly ill-fitting one, took the TTC (Toronto’s public transportation system) to the deli, […]
Manhunts and the American Imagination
/by Jeffrey Ian RossThe recent shooting of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, on the streets of New York City has reignited debates about the ethics of health insurance companies and their shortchanging of the American public. However, the dominant narrative in the news media seems to center on America’s enduring fascination with manhunts. From Hollywood portrayals of lone […]