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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.
How U.S. Federal Prisons Fail International Human Rights Standards
/by Jeffrey Ian RossMy recent article, published in The Prison Journal, documents how the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) violates the Nelson Mandela Rules. These standards, adopted by the United Nations in 2015, outline the international minimum standards for humane detention. Drawing on government reports, bipartisan congressional investigations, peer-reviewed research, and investigative journalism, the study identifies […]
Reading Codrescu’s NEW ORLEANS, MON AMOUR
/by Jeffrey Ian RossApéritif One of my favorite books is New Orleans, Mon Amour: Twenty Years of Writings from the City by Andrei Codrescu. A poet, essayist, novelist, and professor emeritus at Louisiana State University, Codrescu is also widely known for his commentaries on National Public Radio. Published in 2006, New Orleans, Mon Amour is primarily a collection […]
What Are the Most Important Questions to Ask About US Prison Conditions?
/by Jeffrey Ian RossIn the United States, numerous standards have been developed for the operation of correctional facilities. States and the federal government have constitutional protections. Professional bodies like the American Correctional Association and the American Jail Association offer accreditation. Courts have weighed in repeatedly. And yet most people who have spent time inside a correctional facility as […]