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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.
“Have you ever considered consulting” and other unsolicited, well-meaning but unhelpful career advice
/by Jeffrey Ian RossIn the classic 1960s movie, The Graduate, Benjamin Braddock (played by Dustin Hoffman), who has recently completed university, attends his graduation party, and a friend of his parents takes him aside, places his arm around his shoulder and utters: “I have one word for you: Plastics.” This scene has become the synecdoche for the all-knowing […]
Running at night as exercise, urban exploration, and street ethnography
/by Jeffrey Ian RossRunning, as a physical exercise, has numerous benefits. One of the best things about this activity is that it’s low cost, and you can do it just about anywhere and anytime. Up until recently, the majority of my running was done in urban environments, on the streets, and at night. Sometimes I used to run […]
Accessing the lived experience of others
/by Jeffrey Ian RossLived experience can be an excellent data source for scholarly research and career development. In particular, lived experiences can provide anecdotal evidence and inspiration for hypotheses that investigators may want to empirically test using different research techniques. It may also motivate and drive scholars’ passion to conduct research regarding a particular topic. That being said, […]