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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.
Running out of time: Documenting the life histories of Old School Graffiti Writers
/by Jeffrey Ian RossAlthough graffiti, has existed for centuries, modern graffiti did not really start until the 1960s. Despite a nascent graffiti scene in Philadelphia, many argue that the NYC writers (1966-1985) were the originators of modern day graffiti (characterized by bubble lettering, wildstyle, bombing, and subway trains with full cars bearing graffiti lettering, images and motifs). In […]
Sound Check? Music, Noise, and Street Culture
/by Jeffrey Ian RossIt’s Spring again. After a long hard year with COVID-19 bearing down on us, the roll out and adoption of vaccines to address this global health crisis, and the shadow of the wreckage left behind by former President Trump, an increasing number of city dwellers are emerging from their residences and on to the streets […]
Small colleges and universities need to embrace academic research, scholarship, and creative activities produced by their faculty
/by Jeffrey Ian RossOver the past decade, many universities and colleges in the United States and elsewhere have had to confront drastic budget cuts. Declining enrollments, stiff competition among institutions of higher education, financial mismanagement, changes in the way instruction is delivered (i.e., online education), and now the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a decrease in revenue and […]