Professor's New Book Examines Political Crime, Its Causes and Methods Used to Curb the Problem
June 21, 2012
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
An Introduction to Political Crime, the latest book by the University of Baltimore's Jeffrey Ian Ross, professor in the School of Criminal Justice and a research fellow for the University's Center for International and Comparative Law, offers a comprehensive and contemporary analysis of both violent and nonviolent crimes committed by and against the state. From political corruption and illegal domestic surveillance, to terrorism and human rights violations, the book examines these phenomena and more in advanced industrialized countries like the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere, from the 1960s through today. Ross combines new scholarship on state crime, along with post-9/11 developments in research and current affairs, to create a portrait of modern governments and anti-state actors engaged in what amounts to a perpetual war that is both "hot" and "cold" at the same time.
Published by Policy Press and available now, An Introduction to Political Crime is garnering highly positive reviews:
"Traditionally, scholars of criminology and political science have had little to say to each other. This immensely valuable book succeeds admirably in bridging these disciplinary silos," said Peter Grabosky of the Australian National University. "Focusing on the intersection of crime and politics, it is a wonderfully accessible work that will appeal to students, teachers, and other readers alike."
The "book on the politics of crime and the crimes of politics is a most welcome text for the undergraduate student. It treats this most challenging and important of topics in a systematic, balanced and clearly presented fashion," said Gary T. Marx, professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"The most comprehensive and accessible treatment of political crime, that not only incorporates the emerging literature on state crime but also occupational crimes and those committed against a government or state," said Dawn L Rothe, chair of the American Society of Criminology, Division of Critical Criminology and director of the International State Crime Research Consortium in the ISCRC Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Old Dominion University.
"Jeffrey Ian Ross, a pioneering, prolific and perceptive criminological scholar of political (and state) crime and its control, here provides those engaged with the study of such crime with an up-to-date mapping of the terrain," said David O. Friedrichs, professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Scranton.
For more than 20 years, Ross has researched, written and lectured on correctional systems, policing, political crime (especially terrorism and state crime), violence, crime and justice for native Americans, and global crime and criminal justice. His work has appeared in many academic journals and books, as well as in popular media such as CNN, CNBC, Fox News, the Baltimore Sun, the Tampa Tribune, and dozens of other outlets. He is the author, co-author, editor or co-editor of 17 books.
From 1995-98, 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. Prior to his teaching career, Ross worked for nearly four years in a correctional institution in the early 1980s.
Learn more about Jeffrey Ian Ross.
Find out about An Introduction to Political Crime.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the School of Law, the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Public Affairs and the Merrick School of Business.