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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 calming effect of reading poetry before sleep
/by Jeffrey Ian RossIn 2016 Donald Trump was elected as the 45th President, and the Republican Party gained control of the Senate. For more than four years a large chunk of the public continuously wondered what egregious and embarrassing thing Trump and his supporters would say or do next. This insecurity was highlighted when the capital was attacked […]
What’s wrong with most synonyms for earning a certification, degree, diploma, or licensure?
/by Jeffrey Ian RossIn order to minimize confusion, and be properly understood, it’s important to use words and expressions that mean what we say, and avoid ones that don’t. That being said, there are lots of terms that even native born English speakers misuse, but in the area of higher education various words and expressions that many people […]
Reconsidering Iñárritu’s BIUTIFUL
/by Jeffrey Ian RossAlthough filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu has produced numerous interesting and powerful movies, one of my favorites is his 2010 film Biutiful. The images, characters, and storyline used in this film frequently repeat in my mind and hit me at a deep and visceral level. Set in modern day Barcelona, but rarely the neighborhoods that most […]