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New Perspectives in Crime, Deviance, and Law
Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys
Victor Rios grew up in the ghetto of Oakland, California in the 1980s and 90s. A former gang member and juvenile delinquent, Rios managed to escape the bleak outcome of many of his friends and earned a PhD at Berkeley and returned to his hometown to study how inner city young Latino and African American boys develop their sense of self in the midst of crime and intense policing. Punished examines the difficult lives of these young men, who now face punitive policies in their schools, communities, and a world where they are constantly policed and stigmatized.
Rios followed a group of forty delinquent Black and Latino boys for three years. These boys found themselves in a vicious cycle, caught in a spiral of punishment and incarceration as they were harassed, profiled, watched, and disciplined at young ages, even before they had committed any crimes, eventually leading many of them to fulfill the destiny expected of them. But beyond a fatalistic account of these marginalized young men, Rios finds that the very system that criminalizes them and limits their opportunities, sparks resistance and a raised consciousness that motivates some to transform their lives and become productive citizens. Ultimately, he argues that by understanding the lives of the young men who are criminalized and pipelined through the criminal justice system, we can begin to develop empathic solutions which support these young men in their development and to eliminate the culture of punishment that has become an overbearing part of their everyday lives.
Rios followed a group of forty delinquent Black and Latino boys for three years. These boys found themselves in a vicious cycle, caught in a spiral of punishment and incarceration as they were harassed, profiled, watched, and disciplined at young ages, even before they had committed any crimes, eventually leading many of them to fulfill the destiny expected of them. But beyond a fatalistic account of these marginalized young men, Rios finds that the very system that criminalizes them and limits their opportunities, sparks resistance and a raised consciousness that motivates some to transform their lives and become productive citizens. Ultimately, he argues that by understanding the lives of the young men who are criminalized and pipelined through the criminal justice system, we can begin to develop empathic solutions which support these young men in their development and to eliminate the culture of punishment that has become an overbearing part of their everyday lives.
240 pages, Paperback
First published June 27, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
May 30, 2019
Tough book to review. The topic is incredibly promising: that Black and Latino boys in Oakland (and to a large extent more generally) are pipelined into juvenile justice and prisons by a complex matrix that assumes their criminality over their humanity. Everywhere they turn, they are treated like criminals, even when they've done nothing wrong, or even while actively trying to stay out of criminal activity. Their whole lives, their whole childhoods, are criminalized by police, schools, the media and their own neighborhood environment.
To prove this thesis, the author spent three years doing fieldwork in Oakland, shadowing Black and Latino boys as they interacted with the elements of the matrix in question to determine how and how often the boys wound up being punished and criminalized. The results of that fieldwork seem to absolutely uphold the author's thesis, even as he acknowledges that he lacks a certain amount of objectivity in having grown up Chicano in Oakland.
There's a great deal of well-explained theory in this book, about previous work in this field, academic studies of the area, organic capital as a resistance strategy, resistance identities, disreputability as resilience and subversion, the role/problem of the embedded sociologist as reporter, and I learned a ton.
Where I struggled with the book is that it felt like easily 70% theory work and summaries, and 30% anecdotes from the fieldwork itself. I wanted to know more about these boys and their lives, and although so much of the included theory is very necessary in order to fully explore this "hypercriminalization" (author's term) matrix, I really wanted more story.
Also, the chapter on hypercriminalization and toxic masculinity I found entirely confusing. I'm not a trained sociologist, but I felt like I could follow the rest of the theory and examples in the book, and then this chapter seemed to circle around and over itself and I didn't follow it at all.
That said? Still a satisfying and eye-opening read.
The sheer amount of police brutality and police harassment reported by the author during his fieldwork was astonishing. And I already know that that's an issue for people of color, especially Black people, in this country. But the author, a professor at the University of California, reported having been equally targeted by law enforcement for just hanging around the boys he was shadowing.
One of the other eye-opening aspects of the book is how hypercriminalization affects school discipline in Oakland. Not just in terms of how teachers, principals and school security officers threatened the boys with calls to law enforcement, but how often school infractions were followed up with law enforcement. "The other day one of the boys was arrested for talking back to the principal. He told her that the police could not go into his house without a warrant, after the principal threatened to call the cops on him. The principal dialed the school officer, and he arrested him for threatening his teacher."
That's horrifying. That's not an environment where a student can do anything but comply and fear, not learn.
Another student was arrested for talking back to his probation officer, and again for "intimidating a clerk at a Foot Locker shoe store." What are we doing with these types of charges? How are these allowable? And what are we going to do about it?
So overall, a powerful and readable book that I'm only complaining about because I ultimately wanted more of it. These are issues that need more people talking about them and figuring out how to take action to dismantle the hypercriminalization complex.
To prove this thesis, the author spent three years doing fieldwork in Oakland, shadowing Black and Latino boys as they interacted with the elements of the matrix in question to determine how and how often the boys wound up being punished and criminalized. The results of that fieldwork seem to absolutely uphold the author's thesis, even as he acknowledges that he lacks a certain amount of objectivity in having grown up Chicano in Oakland.
There's a great deal of well-explained theory in this book, about previous work in this field, academic studies of the area, organic capital as a resistance strategy, resistance identities, disreputability as resilience and subversion, the role/problem of the embedded sociologist as reporter, and I learned a ton.
Where I struggled with the book is that it felt like easily 70% theory work and summaries, and 30% anecdotes from the fieldwork itself. I wanted to know more about these boys and their lives, and although so much of the included theory is very necessary in order to fully explore this "hypercriminalization" (author's term) matrix, I really wanted more story.
Also, the chapter on hypercriminalization and toxic masculinity I found entirely confusing. I'm not a trained sociologist, but I felt like I could follow the rest of the theory and examples in the book, and then this chapter seemed to circle around and over itself and I didn't follow it at all.
That said? Still a satisfying and eye-opening read.
The sheer amount of police brutality and police harassment reported by the author during his fieldwork was astonishing. And I already know that that's an issue for people of color, especially Black people, in this country. But the author, a professor at the University of California, reported having been equally targeted by law enforcement for just hanging around the boys he was shadowing.
Two officers emerged from the [Oakland Police Department] car and ordered us to sit on the curb: "Hands on your ass!" Slick looked down at his burrito, and I realized we were being asked to throw our meal away after only taking one bite. The officer yelled again. Our fresh burritos splattered on the chewing-gum-dotted concrete, and we sat on the curb with our hands under our thighs. An officer grabbed Slick's arms and handcuffed him. Another officer did the same to me. One of them lifted us up by the metal links holding the cuffs together, placing excruciating pressure on our shoulder joints.This is not an isolated incident reported in the book.
As they searched us, I asked the officers, "What's going on?" They provided no response. They took out a camera and took pictures of Slick and me. ...The officers had noticed me in the neighborhood and had asked many of the boys about me. ...One of them later told me that I was doing the boys no good by studying them and advocating for them. The officer told me that I was enabling them by harboring their criminality and that I should be arrested for conspiracy.
One of the other eye-opening aspects of the book is how hypercriminalization affects school discipline in Oakland. Not just in terms of how teachers, principals and school security officers threatened the boys with calls to law enforcement, but how often school infractions were followed up with law enforcement. "The other day one of the boys was arrested for talking back to the principal. He told her that the police could not go into his house without a warrant, after the principal threatened to call the cops on him. The principal dialed the school officer, and he arrested him for threatening his teacher."
That's horrifying. That's not an environment where a student can do anything but comply and fear, not learn.
Another student was arrested for talking back to his probation officer, and again for "intimidating a clerk at a Foot Locker shoe store." What are we doing with these types of charges? How are these allowable? And what are we going to do about it?
So overall, a powerful and readable book that I'm only complaining about because I ultimately wanted more of it. These are issues that need more people talking about them and figuring out how to take action to dismantle the hypercriminalization complex.
Read
December 7, 2020Read for school but it was really good. Academic but I would recommend this to anyone who’s interested.
January 31, 2015
This book is "...a snapshot of the complicated world of some boys growing up in Oakland, California, in the midst of a system of punishment which, from their perspective, maintains an ironclad grip on their everyday lives." Victor Rios follows forty Black and Latino teenage boys in Oakland for a few years, in the process getting searched by police, arrested, and being subject to interrogation by police officers many times, simply for hanging out with them in public, on the streets of Oakland, doing stuff like sitting on the curb eating tacos by a taco truck. It's heartbreaking, as when one of the boys tries to get a job as a server in a restaurant and unknowingly is turned down for the job because he wears sneakers and doesn't shake hands with the interviewer as he leaves. He doesn't shake hands because of the dominant narrative he's subject to - don't touch a white woman, it will make people think you're dangerous. He thinks he's being respectful. It's heartbreaking when the teenage boys can't buy candy at the store without carefully going directly to the candy aisle and choosing a candy with outstretched arms, arching their bodies away from the racks to try to show the store clerk they're not shoplifting. And it's heartbreaking when they can't hang out without being stopped, searched, entered into the police's gang member database if they're simply around a friend who's in the database.
And, anyway, it made me think a lot about public institutions and the way we ally ourselves with police and seem dominant and punitive to outsiders. At the library, when we ask for ID, when we show how we're part of the system, when we aren't nice, when we are harsh to teenagers for how they express themselves.
And, anyway, it made me think a lot about public institutions and the way we ally ourselves with police and seem dominant and punitive to outsiders. At the library, when we ask for ID, when we show how we're part of the system, when we aren't nice, when we are harsh to teenagers for how they express themselves.
"In my college courses, I read books that discussed the government's neglect of the poor. While insightful, these books missed a key process that I had personally experienced: the state had not abandoned the poor; it had reorganized itself, placing priority on its punitive institutions, such as police, and embedding crime-control discourses into welfare institutions, such as schools."
"As the boys came of age, and were almost always treated like criminals, they believed, and were often correct, that they were being systematically punished for being poor, young, Black or Latino, and male. In the era of mass incarceration, when punitive social control has become a dominant form of governance, some young people are systematically targeted as criminal risks."
April 28, 2014
This book provides such terrific insight into hypercriminalization for those who have not experienced it personally. Rios is incredibly skilled at explaining in accessible ways the social processes by which young men's identities and characteristics (black or brown, poor; certain styles of dress or speech; living in a certain neighborhood or housing development) create stigmas and labels that limit their opportunities in concrete and harsh ways. Before even arrest or direct juvenile justice intervention, there is the threat of jail (a self-fulfilling prophecy), the side-eye of the shop clerk, and the harsh police questioning or physical invasions. Specifically, some of the most important insights I got from the book were about the ways community spaces that are supposed to assist and provide resources to young people have adopted the logic of punishment and incarceration--how schools, community centers, after-school programs, and other "resources" have become sites of punishment which push out young people instead of bringing them in---And how such ubiquity of distrust and fear can lead young people looking for care and dignity further into criminalized behaviors and acts of resistance. Whether they were or weren't, the young men in the study were all treated as gang members bound for bad and not good.
Rios's empathetic descriptions and summaries of conversations make sure readers understand that young people's decisions and behaviors happen under these constraints, and that we bear collective responsibility for these conditions. Though Rios studied African American and Latino boys in Oakland, there are many lessons here for all of us in the U.S. The book is also a fast and pleasant read, and it does contain reasons for optimism about the politicizing effects of criminalization on young men in the study. Highly, highly recommend this book!
Rios's empathetic descriptions and summaries of conversations make sure readers understand that young people's decisions and behaviors happen under these constraints, and that we bear collective responsibility for these conditions. Though Rios studied African American and Latino boys in Oakland, there are many lessons here for all of us in the U.S. The book is also a fast and pleasant read, and it does contain reasons for optimism about the politicizing effects of criminalization on young men in the study. Highly, highly recommend this book!
January 6, 2018
This is a readable but dense ethnography, and reads like the author's dissertation - so be forewarned if you were hoping for an easy read. That said, this is really good. One major point from this book that was new for me: the enforcement/corrections apparatus has invaded the education system. If young people (accurately) think of school as part of the carceral state, how do we move forward? This isn't the most prominent point of the book, but it made the biggest impression on me.
November 9, 2019
Fascinating and heartbreaking, this is a good examination of how the school to prison pipeline plays out, though that pipeline includes the neighborhood and has a strong race factor. There are many eye-opening anecdotes, especially related to job-seeking, but the opening anecdote of police harassment that requires the dropping of newly-purchased food to comply, when there is no crime and no charges... it makes you want to sing NWA songs, though that really isn't the answer.
I find it to be an interesting companion piece to Jay McLeod's Ain't No Makin' It. There, the youth were divided into a group that believed that hard work would help them win, and another that understood how the system was rigged. The second group got some benefits and avoided some heartbreak from their cynicism, but it still wasn't satisfying.
Rios points to some other possibilities. While the best option would be strong support and decriminalization of youth, strategizing around the corrupt system, especially in terms of activism, does provide a third way.
I find it to be an interesting companion piece to Jay McLeod's Ain't No Makin' It. There, the youth were divided into a group that believed that hard work would help them win, and another that understood how the system was rigged. The second group got some benefits and avoided some heartbreak from their cynicism, but it still wasn't satisfying.
Rios points to some other possibilities. While the best option would be strong support and decriminalization of youth, strategizing around the corrupt system, especially in terms of activism, does provide a third way.
April 10, 2020
Wonderful book! Rios demonstrates how punitive social control, criminalization and stigmatization affect lives of many young people in Oakland, California. This book made me think of sociological imagination and how realizing that our personal issues require structural changes might help us unveil the reality of mass incarceration.
April 20, 2020
P good. Eye opening, made me think about stuff.
July 22, 2020
Rios's dissertation work-turned-book is a fantastic and powerful read that feels like a perfect counterpart to The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. Over several years, Rios situates himself among a group of Latino and Black young men in Oakland, California to learn from their vantage what life is like when society deems you a problem or menace. From his observations, interviews, and analysis, Rios highlights the many ways in which young people of color are stuck between living in challenging spaces that demand one kind of conformity while a predominantly white (and racist) culture demands conformity in another. These two demands are at odds with one another, leaving youth men determining what is the rational choice to pursue based on their situation (rather than the "rational" assumptions people not in their position believe is "right"). Rios doesn't ignore that, at times, harmful ways the young men act but he doesn't chalk it up to lazy thinking by labeling them innately bad or "super-criminals" and the like. Instead, he situates their actions and reactions in a complex web where one is often needed to perform hyper-masculinity in the hopes of a larger strategy of self-protection. In doing so, he illustrates that the youths at times know they are crossing lines but do so, at times, with some awareness (and inner turmoil) about doing so. Beyond learning about the young men through Rios, he also captures the complex systems that actively monitor, police, and limit their decisions from the time they are young children until they are legal-aged adults. The antagonistic relationship the community has towards youth becomes its of self-perpetuating production line of troubled youth and leave them with little options for growth and development in productive ways. With little social supports and programs besides those that are punitive or problem-based (e.g. drug abuse), many of the youths interviewed have little resources to draw upon to avoid the punishment that lies in waiting for them throughout their childhood.
May 17, 2022
read for soc 4230/soc 2230 - would probably do 4.5 stars if i could do half, but i’d rather bump it up than down. i LOVE ethnography, and in my opinion rios does everything right. his relation to the subject matter really enriches his credibility in my eyes, and also points to the fact that the cycles of criminalization that he discusses are capable of being broken with the proper care and support. really great introduction to racialized criminalization, and i would eagerly recommend this to someone who hasn’t read many sociological texts because it’s not written in a stuffy academic way.
rios does a great job of sharing the young boys’ stories and linking them to his theories. would knock half a star because i would’ve loved to have seen more from the final chapter on potential paths forward. he spends the entire book outlining the harm caused by institutions theoretically designed to support these boys and then proposes reforming those same institutions which seems to be missing the point… but maybe that’s just me
rios does a great job of sharing the young boys’ stories and linking them to his theories. would knock half a star because i would’ve loved to have seen more from the final chapter on potential paths forward. he spends the entire book outlining the harm caused by institutions theoretically designed to support these boys and then proposes reforming those same institutions which seems to be missing the point… but maybe that’s just me
May 17, 2024
If Shielded was the cold hard law, Punished is the heart of the problem. This book is able to lay out how kids are criminalized and why this approach doesn’t work, no matter how well intentioned some actors might be, in such persuasive yet humanizing ways. I know that I’m the exact target audience for this book but full claps, it had my entire class questioning whether we actually want to go into education.
February 6, 2017
A very well-written book on how approaches by law enforcement, the criminal justice system and current legislation socialize our children and youth of color to believe there's not a place for them to be successful citizens within society, as well as stigmatizes them as criminals, especially the impoverished. A must read. The first time that I've read the term "hypermasculinity" and it makes perfect sense. I've taught and worked for a community reentry program with incarcerated men from impoverished communities and society just beats them up. So proud of my students and clients who keep their chin up and persevere. This book tells it just like it is.
January 4, 2021
I wish I had read this book before I taught in Title I high schools. There were so many different points this book made about race, poverty, and the effects it has on my students. This knowledge would have been really beneficial to help me navigate supporting my students well.
October 26, 2016
One word: Wow.
May 10, 2021
SUMMARY:Former gang member Victor Rios grew up in the ghetto of Oakland, California so he knows the realities of Black and Latino males growing up in the ghetto, but this is not his story. Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys is based off of Rios Ph.D. thesis at Berkeley that he penned after spending three years following 40 Black and Latino males in Oakland.
“What this study demonstrates is that the poor, at least in this community, have not been abandoned by the state,” Rios says. “Instead, the state has become deeply embedded in their everyday lives, through the auspices of punitive social control.”
Rios thesis boils down to Black and Latino males in Oakland are put into an endless loop of hypercriminalization and punishment, because of the way they look and sometimes dress, where they are “harassed, profiled, watched, and disciplined at young ages, before they (commit) any crimes.”
It is a system that strips the boys of their dignity while sowing distrust and animosity between the police and the community as the boys are profiled, harassed, and overpoliced the moment they leave their homes.
“The boys in Oakland were not seen as souls that needed to be disciplined but as irreparable risks and threats that needed to be controlled and ultimately contained,” Rios says. “The discipline imposed on the boys in Oakland…stripped them of their dignity and humanity by systematically marking them and denying them the ability to function in school, in the labor market, and as law-abiding citizens.”
Once the boys are in the system it is almost impossible to get out as there are very limited, if any, resources provided by the police, schools, and social programs. This puts the boys in a double bind – if they follow friends and family into crime they will continue to get tangled in the system, but if they do anything involved with the police then their peers see them as a “snitch” and are physically and verbally abused.
“In other words, when the boys sought out dignity, they were often at risk of losing their freedom; when they worked for freedom, they were making an attempt to stay out of jail or prison but often felt that they had lost their dignity in the process.”
Rios’ final chapter calls for the end to mass incarceration (it denies people their humanity), a change to policies and programs so they point to reintegration and restoration (can lead to personal and social transformation; restoring dignity leads to crime suppression), an elimination of zero-tolerance policies (second chances are needed), a limitation on school based policing (police aren’t trained to teach or nurture) and a redistribution of resources from criminal justice institutions into community institutions (a key point of the defund the police movement).
“The more rehabilitative, reintegrative, and positive their interactions with authority figures (are),” Rios concludes. “the more the boys believed in themselves and understood themselves to have a better future.”
The call for restorative justice, second chances, and dignity and respect for everyone should ring clear and true for Christians and serve as a guide to what Christians can advocate for locally and nationally.
KEY QUOTE:“The ambition in this book is to show the failures of criminalization, the failures of using harsh, stigmatizing, and humiliating forms of punishment to ‘correct’ and ‘manage’ marginalized youths, as well as to highlight the consequences that these methods have on young people’s trajectories. Ultimately, I believe that by understanding the lives of boys who are criminalized and pipelined through the criminal justice system, we can begin to develop empathic solutions which support these young men in their development and to eliminate the culture of criminalization that has become an overbearing part of their everyday lives.”
MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate content for the church.
“What this study demonstrates is that the poor, at least in this community, have not been abandoned by the state,” Rios says. “Instead, the state has become deeply embedded in their everyday lives, through the auspices of punitive social control.”
Rios thesis boils down to Black and Latino males in Oakland are put into an endless loop of hypercriminalization and punishment, because of the way they look and sometimes dress, where they are “harassed, profiled, watched, and disciplined at young ages, before they (commit) any crimes.”
It is a system that strips the boys of their dignity while sowing distrust and animosity between the police and the community as the boys are profiled, harassed, and overpoliced the moment they leave their homes.
“The boys in Oakland were not seen as souls that needed to be disciplined but as irreparable risks and threats that needed to be controlled and ultimately contained,” Rios says. “The discipline imposed on the boys in Oakland…stripped them of their dignity and humanity by systematically marking them and denying them the ability to function in school, in the labor market, and as law-abiding citizens.”
Once the boys are in the system it is almost impossible to get out as there are very limited, if any, resources provided by the police, schools, and social programs. This puts the boys in a double bind – if they follow friends and family into crime they will continue to get tangled in the system, but if they do anything involved with the police then their peers see them as a “snitch” and are physically and verbally abused.
“In other words, when the boys sought out dignity, they were often at risk of losing their freedom; when they worked for freedom, they were making an attempt to stay out of jail or prison but often felt that they had lost their dignity in the process.”
Rios’ final chapter calls for the end to mass incarceration (it denies people their humanity), a change to policies and programs so they point to reintegration and restoration (can lead to personal and social transformation; restoring dignity leads to crime suppression), an elimination of zero-tolerance policies (second chances are needed), a limitation on school based policing (police aren’t trained to teach or nurture) and a redistribution of resources from criminal justice institutions into community institutions (a key point of the defund the police movement).
“The more rehabilitative, reintegrative, and positive their interactions with authority figures (are),” Rios concludes. “the more the boys believed in themselves and understood themselves to have a better future.”
The call for restorative justice, second chances, and dignity and respect for everyone should ring clear and true for Christians and serve as a guide to what Christians can advocate for locally and nationally.
KEY QUOTE:“The ambition in this book is to show the failures of criminalization, the failures of using harsh, stigmatizing, and humiliating forms of punishment to ‘correct’ and ‘manage’ marginalized youths, as well as to highlight the consequences that these methods have on young people’s trajectories. Ultimately, I believe that by understanding the lives of boys who are criminalized and pipelined through the criminal justice system, we can begin to develop empathic solutions which support these young men in their development and to eliminate the culture of criminalization that has become an overbearing part of their everyday lives.”
MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate content for the church.
July 5, 2020
I would recommend this for anyone who wants to understand the almost complete breakdown that exists in much of America between the police and communities of color. Rios is a scholar with a PhD from one of the most prestigious universities in the world (UC Berkley). He also grew up poor in Oakland, dropped out of school at one point, and spent time in a juvenile correction facility when he was 15. This is a book informed by the fieldwork he did when he returned to Oakland as a PhD student, to shadow and get to know 40 teenage boys (20 Latino, 20 Black, all poor and all with a history of run-ins with the police).
At one point, Rios tells the story of a teenage boy who was first arrested and hand-cuffed for talking back to his teacher at the age of 8. Other stories are equally horrifying.
The resulting book that is lucid, humane, unsentimental and devastatingly convincing. Rios is particularly good at demonstrating that his subjects are neither irredeemable "super-predators," nor totally passive victims of their circumstances. Instead, he shows how their decisions (even the most maladaptive) are based on universal psychological needs to feel secure and respected in a society that so often denies them both security and respect. At one point, Rios paraphrases Karl Marx to say that "people make history, but not in circumstances of their own choosing."
Rios convincingly demonstrates that these teenagers are growing up in circumstances where society assumes they are either already criminals or about to become criminals. He shows how they each boy is able to make decisions along the way that can confirm or challenge this assumption. But he also shows that every choice has its consequences, which are often dire. A teenager who tries to comply with what teachers and police claim is "good behavior" will reduce his chance of ending up in prison, but also risks alienating peers or appearing an easy target for violence. Rios demonstrates the the communities he studies are both over- and under-policed. Police regularly harass and intimidate teenagers on dubious pretexts and make numerous arrests for minor offenses, but seem unable to protect them from actual violent crime.
But any humane reader will realize that the greater fault lies with society that created the circumstances in which children, not yet fully developed, are challenged daily to make these life or death decisions, and then so often penalized for whichever choice they make.
At one point, Rios tells the story of a teenage boy who was first arrested and hand-cuffed for talking back to his teacher at the age of 8. Other stories are equally horrifying.
The resulting book that is lucid, humane, unsentimental and devastatingly convincing. Rios is particularly good at demonstrating that his subjects are neither irredeemable "super-predators," nor totally passive victims of their circumstances. Instead, he shows how their decisions (even the most maladaptive) are based on universal psychological needs to feel secure and respected in a society that so often denies them both security and respect. At one point, Rios paraphrases Karl Marx to say that "people make history, but not in circumstances of their own choosing."
Rios convincingly demonstrates that these teenagers are growing up in circumstances where society assumes they are either already criminals or about to become criminals. He shows how they each boy is able to make decisions along the way that can confirm or challenge this assumption. But he also shows that every choice has its consequences, which are often dire. A teenager who tries to comply with what teachers and police claim is "good behavior" will reduce his chance of ending up in prison, but also risks alienating peers or appearing an easy target for violence. Rios demonstrates the the communities he studies are both over- and under-policed. Police regularly harass and intimidate teenagers on dubious pretexts and make numerous arrests for minor offenses, but seem unable to protect them from actual violent crime.
But any humane reader will realize that the greater fault lies with society that created the circumstances in which children, not yet fully developed, are challenged daily to make these life or death decisions, and then so often penalized for whichever choice they make.
May 8, 2023
- The main thesis of the book is that the author finds the criminalization of the Black and Latino boys often stem from said groups of boys themselves growing up as a victim that often lack police oversight (unless it is done in broad daylight). In order to protect themselves, they formed gangs and occur injuries to other people (before they get injured themselves)
- While there is also an Asian community in the community, Asian boys overall are not being policed. However the author noted that the Asian boys often form their own gang in order to protect themselves from larger Black and Latino gangs. The author also noted that if Asian boys also go out of the line, they also get policed just like their Black and Latino counterparts
- Young Black and Latino boys in the book often believe they were inherently criminal
- The often stigma those boys experienced (for instance, a large Black boys would often get searched by the police just because the police believe they have better likelihood of committing crime) actually led them into crime - as some rationalize that if they're being punished for no reason already, why not go into crime anyways?
- The police often would set boundaries of places where they would and would not incur oversight. And such boundaries are often understood by all parties
- "No snitch culture" comes to the fact that such community member often feel giving police information lead to false accusations, police "set-ups" as well as retaliation from the other group - the police themselves would often reveal the identity of the informant to the accused
- Sadly, for many of the boys, correctional facilities are often more desired than the streets since their lives are more predictable there. In addition, with criminal record already in their name, their opportunity in the regular job market is slim to none
- Punishment actually leads to more crime, not less
- The root of the problem often comes down to lack of opportunities: many of the subject in the book do seek regular life just like anyone else
- However, author noted that just about everyone in the book feel what they are doing, and did, are wrong. However while they have the ability to acknowledge such fact, they seldom change their ways
- While there is also an Asian community in the community, Asian boys overall are not being policed. However the author noted that the Asian boys often form their own gang in order to protect themselves from larger Black and Latino gangs. The author also noted that if Asian boys also go out of the line, they also get policed just like their Black and Latino counterparts
- Young Black and Latino boys in the book often believe they were inherently criminal
- The often stigma those boys experienced (for instance, a large Black boys would often get searched by the police just because the police believe they have better likelihood of committing crime) actually led them into crime - as some rationalize that if they're being punished for no reason already, why not go into crime anyways?
- The police often would set boundaries of places where they would and would not incur oversight. And such boundaries are often understood by all parties
- "No snitch culture" comes to the fact that such community member often feel giving police information lead to false accusations, police "set-ups" as well as retaliation from the other group - the police themselves would often reveal the identity of the informant to the accused
- Sadly, for many of the boys, correctional facilities are often more desired than the streets since their lives are more predictable there. In addition, with criminal record already in their name, their opportunity in the regular job market is slim to none
- Punishment actually leads to more crime, not less
- The root of the problem often comes down to lack of opportunities: many of the subject in the book do seek regular life just like anyone else
- However, author noted that just about everyone in the book feel what they are doing, and did, are wrong. However while they have the ability to acknowledge such fact, they seldom change their ways
February 28, 2025
I love criminology as a subject, and hearing Rios' story in corroboration with the rest of the boys' he interviewed makes for an important, powerful read about how punitive measures negatively impact young Black and Latino boys, pipelining them into the criminal justice system, which permeates the fabric of their life even before they commit any crimes.
My only overall critique is that I think sometimes he relies a lot on other sociologists' theories: nothing wrong with this, but at times it felt like a literature review. I wish we followed more of the boys lives, like Jose. In general though, he does not do a bad job with incorporating the qualitative data and I appreciate his consideration of the boys' words and experiences.
While reading the conclusion, I had also kind of wished he had a few more concrete ideas laid out. He is correct in what types of institutions need to be abolished; laws like gang enhancements only further punish and hurt youths. He is also correct that the mindset needs to be reframed: teachers, police officers, and adults in communities like Oakland should focus on nurturing care, not punitive, rage-induced responses to disorder. Other than this, though, I felt like his ideas amounted to showing the boys basic respect, listening to their ideas, and instituting more community programs that actually give them good advice. The problem isn't that these are bad ideas: they are obviously ideal and should be implemented, however, they simply weren't lined out very well. Rios isn't obligated to give us a line-by-line policy proposal, but I would have liked to see more of what it looks like to implement programs that give meaningful advice. What is that meaningful advice to children navigating spaces like Oakland? Overall though, I liked the book and appreciated his conclusions. I would definitely read an extended article on more planned out policies for improving situations like Oakland's that try to focus on punishment to the kids' dismay.
My only overall critique is that I think sometimes he relies a lot on other sociologists' theories: nothing wrong with this, but at times it felt like a literature review. I wish we followed more of the boys lives, like Jose. In general though, he does not do a bad job with incorporating the qualitative data and I appreciate his consideration of the boys' words and experiences.
While reading the conclusion, I had also kind of wished he had a few more concrete ideas laid out. He is correct in what types of institutions need to be abolished; laws like gang enhancements only further punish and hurt youths. He is also correct that the mindset needs to be reframed: teachers, police officers, and adults in communities like Oakland should focus on nurturing care, not punitive, rage-induced responses to disorder. Other than this, though, I felt like his ideas amounted to showing the boys basic respect, listening to their ideas, and instituting more community programs that actually give them good advice. The problem isn't that these are bad ideas: they are obviously ideal and should be implemented, however, they simply weren't lined out very well. Rios isn't obligated to give us a line-by-line policy proposal, but I would have liked to see more of what it looks like to implement programs that give meaningful advice. What is that meaningful advice to children navigating spaces like Oakland? Overall though, I liked the book and appreciated his conclusions. I would definitely read an extended article on more planned out policies for improving situations like Oakland's that try to focus on punishment to the kids' dismay.
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July 2, 2020I first read about Sudhir Venkatesh and his ethnographic endeavors into inner-city Chicago and it's low-income housing developments in Stephen J. Dubner’s work “Freakonomics”. Dubner covered a brief part of Venkatesh’s work and explained the hierarchies of gang life and the economic model of drug dealing.
At the time I was a senior in college and reading a book called “Punished: Policing The Lives of Black and Latino Boys” by Victor Rios, a professor of Sociology at UC Santa Barbara. In this work Rios writes about Venkatesh suggesting that he employs a “jungle book trope” of sociology that is a voyeuristic depiction of the lives of Black men. Victor Rios came to my school to speak and I got the chance to ask him about this claim. Rios had a very well reasoned answer to my question as he suggested that a sociologist must do his or her due diligence to justify the narrative they create. Rios, a community activist, organizer, and advocate for young Black and Latino males in Oakland, finds Venkatesh’s work to be self-promoting and aggrandizing.
At the time I was a senior in college and reading a book called “Punished: Policing The Lives of Black and Latino Boys” by Victor Rios, a professor of Sociology at UC Santa Barbara. In this work Rios writes about Venkatesh suggesting that he employs a “jungle book trope” of sociology that is a voyeuristic depiction of the lives of Black men. Victor Rios came to my school to speak and I got the chance to ask him about this claim. Rios had a very well reasoned answer to my question as he suggested that a sociologist must do his or her due diligence to justify the narrative they create. Rios, a community activist, organizer, and advocate for young Black and Latino males in Oakland, finds Venkatesh’s work to be self-promoting and aggrandizing.
December 12, 2024
This book is also excellent, focusing on how the U.S. police system drives individuals into crime. Young people of color living in chaotic neighborhoods, even when they do nothing wrong, are often treated as criminals and sometimes, even victims of violence, are seen as offenders. These individuals, repeatedly arrested or detained for minor offenses, eventually develop street codes of self-protection. The adult figures in their lives give them advice that is often impractical, such as "stay away from delinquent boys," but distancing oneself from peers can lead to being labeled a snitch, making them targets for violence. Even though police are frequently present on the streets, they rarely offer help to these young people, deeming them "not worth it." This lack of support triggers a defensive mechanism in the youths. Even law-abiding youths lose faith in the educational system when teachers treat them with violence and distrust, often causing them to drop out and fall into street gangs.
January 3, 2026
Read for a class during my undergrad and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is not only informative and academic but also provides anecdotes on lives of the boys that Dr. Rios shadowed. I’ve read this book a couple of times and referenced it throughout the course of obtaining my masters in sociology. If you find the anecdotes throughout this book interesting I would highly recommend watching the PBS documentary (The Pushouts) as a supplement or reading into his “Yo! Watts”program (the documentary goes over this program and you get to hear from the actual teens.
Pro: It is informative on the topics of hyper criminalization and the youth control complex in an interesting and engaging way (provides both anecdotes on the lives of these kids with a mixture of educative knowledge on the topic as well).
Cons: Although it is VERY entertaining, it is geared more for an educational setting. There are plenty of anecdotes that make the book interesting but it only makes up about 30% of the book.
Pro: It is informative on the topics of hyper criminalization and the youth control complex in an interesting and engaging way (provides both anecdotes on the lives of these kids with a mixture of educative knowledge on the topic as well).
Cons: Although it is VERY entertaining, it is geared more for an educational setting. There are plenty of anecdotes that make the book interesting but it only makes up about 30% of the book.
March 3, 2022
The background given in chapter 2 is really important; about how the government attacked Civil Right's groups, which overall destabilized the Black American community as a whole. This paired with the rise of mass incarceration created two huge factors that led to the breakdown and violence of the 1980's gang landscape. (Also what I wrote an essay on for my "A Black People's History of CJ & Policing" class)
I'm on page 121 of 237 of Punished: The nuances explained by this book are SO important for any criminal psychologist/sociologist to understand. People say "they just wanna act dumb/get in trouble/be criminals. its all their fault." But they don't get that it's their form of resistance in an unfair society.
And that's relevant to any and all marginalized people, especially teens. No matter what form their "rebelling against authority" takes shape in
I'm on page 121 of 237 of Punished: The nuances explained by this book are SO important for any criminal psychologist/sociologist to understand. People say "they just wanna act dumb/get in trouble/be criminals. its all their fault." But they don't get that it's their form of resistance in an unfair society.
And that's relevant to any and all marginalized people, especially teens. No matter what form their "rebelling against authority" takes shape in
September 15, 2022
I read the preface and immediately wanted to share this book with everyone I know. As someone who grew up in upper middle class with very little exposure to violence or turmoil outside of existing in a suburban posed family, college has been a time of reflection and expansion of my world views. This was an assigned reading for my sociology course, Identity and Community. This book conveys one location where our society fractures and fails to support a population of youth in the US, and is impactful in supplementing the questionable behavior in recent news events from those who are supposed to support and protect our youth. It is not accusatory and reflects in a practiced and objective manner, but includes sociological theory that is comprehensive and applicable in nature. It reflects the system as a whole. Not to mention it is an interesting read. Highly recommend!!!
November 27, 2023
Rios outlines an uncomfortably intimate, but necessary and honest portrayal of how Black and Latino boys are hypercriminalized in this era of mass incarceration and oppressed through a governing system based on punitive social control. Since the book is an ethnographic study, I understand why Rios doesn't have the capacity to do deep research into solutions, but it really leaves you feeling hopeless about the future when all he suggests is generally empowering the youth with supportive social services...but from where, what funding, and with what political will?!?! I'm frustrated, but I guess that's a good way to end a book calling for change--leave people wanting to do more and act immediately.
September 25, 2018
Criminalization of deviant behavior and style among marginalized youth across many social institutions and relations has helped create the youth control complex of today. Mass Incarceration has been a catalyst and supporter of this dehumanizing process. The young men in this ethnography and within our society are willing to fight for both their dignity and their freedom, however, the powers that be must provide the positive resources, chances, and opportunities to do so. The solution, unfortunately, may have to be fought from below, as I remain skeptical of the current systems ability to take off the blindfold of profit and help it's citizens that it eats.
February 6, 2019
Great book for advanced undergrad or graduate level students. Rio does a great job of focusing on social processes and not relying on sensationalist stories. The problems here are complex and you could use any chapter as a meaningful learning opportunity on its own, but taken together this is a great example of grounded theory in action. Rios incorporates seminal scholars (past and present) but also offers fresh insight into the over policing - and under valuing - or urban adolescent boys. Worthy read.
August 23, 2020
I started reading this book after joining a BLM Book Club through my employer. This book was very eye-opening for me working with black and brown children from a variety of different backgrounds. It was especially insightful to read a book from the perspective of someone who was raised in Oakland, CA and was directly impacted by the way of life there and the over policing and hyper-criminalization of Black and Latino boys within that area. Highly recommend for any educator to read as we learn others perspectives by hearing their stories and understanding where they come from. I will take away a lot of insightful and resourceful information from this book.
September 8, 2021
such an important read, especially for scholars who often fall into the trap of engaging in a purely academic discussion of "why young people commit crime" and need to instead take the time to gain insight into young Black and Latino men's perspectives. rios' in-depth study of the youth control complex (the combined effect of institutions – schools, families, probation officers, community services, etc. – that criminalize and punish young people's everyday behaviors) and the consequences of the hypercriminalization/underpolicing paradox, will stick with me forever.
December 4, 2023
Well-written and thoroughly researched, Punished successfully examines a myriad of complicated and tough topics surrounding race, education, and policing. Not only is the research that fills the book detailed and compelling, but the text itself also does a great job of engaging with the reader. I actually had to read this for a class, and normally I'm none too happy about having to read books for school, but this was fantastic, and I'm so happy I had the opportunity to read it. I would absolutely recommend it.
November 30, 2017
This books was wrote by Victor R. He was a gang member, but after a few years he could leave it. He finished high school, and went to college. Besides that now he has a PhD. He wanted to do a study on the relationship of blacks and Latinos boys with the police, so he returned to his old neighborhood, to talk with several gang members, and thus be able to understand why most gang members do not study, and do not work. This is a great reading for high school students.
Audio book.
Audio book.
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