Key Issues in Corrections

by Jeffrey Ian Ross

Key Issues in Corrections is an engaging textbook critically analyzing the most important challenges affecting the correctional system in the USA. Written by a highly respected expert in the field, and building on his best-selling book Special problems in corrections, it examines long-standing and emerging issues, grounding the discussion in empirical research and current events. Updates to this edition • Integrating new scholarship, lawsuits, and the use of technology • The introduction and evaluation of new policies and practices • New sections on “The Privatization of Prisons” and “The Death Penalty” Primarily written for undergraduate students who have already had an introduction to the topic, the book offers a no-nonsense approach to explaining the problems of correctional officers, correctional managers, prisoners, and the public.

304 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2015

About the author

Jeffrey Ian Ross, Ph.D. is a Professor in the School of Criminal Justice, College of Public Affairs, and a Research Fellow of the Center for International and Comparative Law, and the Schaefer Center for Public Policy at the University of Baltimore. He has been a Visiting Professor at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany, and University of Padua, Italy.

He has researched, written, and lectured primarily on corrections, policing, political crime, state crime, crimes of the powerful, violence, street culture, and crime and justice in American Indian communities for over two decades. Ross’ work has appeared in many academic journals and books, as well as popular media. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of several books including the ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF STREET CULTURE (2021).

Ross is a respected subject matter expert for local, regional, national and international news media. He has made live appearances on CNN, CNBC, Fox News Network, MSNBC, and NBC. Additionally Ross has written op-eds for The (Baltimore) Sun, the Baltimore Examiner, The (Maryland) Daily Record, The Gazette, The Hill, Inside Higher Ed, and The Tampa Tribune.

From 1995-1998, Ross was a Social Science Analyst with the National Institute of Justice, a Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2003, he was awarded the University of Baltimore’s Distinguished Chair in Research Award. Ross is the co-founder of Convict Criminology, and former co-chair/chair of the Division on Critical Criminology and Social Justice (2014-2017), of the American Society of Criminology. In 2018, Ross was given the Hans W. Mattick Award, “for an individual who has made a distinguished contribution to the field of Criminology & Criminal Justice practice,” from the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 2020, he received the John Howard Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences’ Division of Corrections. The award is the ACJS Corrections Section’s most prestigious award, and was given because of his “outstanding research and service to the field of corrections.” During the early 1980s, Jeff worked almost four years in a correctional institution.