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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 Little Graffiti and Name-Writing Book Distributor and Publisher That Could
/by Jeffrey Ian RossSince the dawn of contemporary graffiti (and later street art) there’s been a proliferation of hard copy and on-line publications on this subject. Some of the original hard copy efforts were zines; self-produced publications, resembling magazines, that were sold at independent book shops, or among graffiti writers and nerds. These creative efforts were generally not […]
Must Academic Criminologists Write Books?
/by Jeffrey Ian RossA frequent debate exists in many academic fields regarding the best venues for publishing ones scholarship. In the field of Criminology and Criminal Justice, some criminologists wonder if is it better to conduct research, write, and publish a book in the field, or disseminate the findings from their efforts in the context of one or […]
What’s wrong with fixing it in the mix?
/by Jeffrey Ian RossIn 1997, jazz vocalist Kevin Mahogany (1958-2017) composed and performed a catchy melodic song titled “Fix It in the Mix.” Not only does the piece narrate the story of the challenges encountered during the recording of a song, but it also satirizes the music production process, highlighting a growing tendency (and perhaps an over-reliance) to […]