Policing The Lives Of Black And Latino By Victor Rios Oakland

In Punished: policing the lives of Black and Latino by Victor Rios Oakland boys are studied in an ethnography. The purpose of the ethnography was to examine the how the boys interacted with themselves, the education system and the justice system. The purpose of this essay is to review what Rios has witnessed and recorded, in his book, and look through the lens of different sociological theories and theorists. These Theories and theorists Rios himself used when describing the behavior. Rios describes different situations and plights that afflict the boys of his study. He did so in his book by organizing the ideas by chapter. The first part examines how the police abuse and accuse the boys in their everyday life. They do not need to be†¦show more content†¦They were subject to physical, verbal abuse, and an exile from their peers. Rios in his ethnography kept himself as an outsider. He did not try to become one of his subjects to get them to trust him. Even though his past was like the boys which were his subjects, he kept his distance enough and kept the culture at arm’s length. This is shown in that he did not participate in crimes, and did not intervene with theirs. The reason I say he is an outsider to the study group is because as he states, â€Å"I had dug [my past] six feet under on the day I buried my best friend† (Rios, 2011). A common theme in the book is that of symbolism in language. Pierre Bourdieu, a sociologist, in brought to light the idea of symbolic language. Bourdieu shows that there is two different types of language, signs and symbolism (Bourdieu, 1991). A sign is what it means stop means stop. Symbolism would be what the boys did in their delinquency, they acted out in aggression to thoughts of authority and get punished. In the eyes of the boys they saw that they received more respect afterward. The symbolic power can relate to just about everything, including gift giving (Hyà ¡nkovà ¡, 2010). Hyà ¡nkovà ¡ writes that giving the more expensive gift creates a sort of soft power by the one who gives the more expensive present. This relates to how the boys act to the convenience store clerk, who had a rule of no more than two kids at a time in is store. The boys got their items and queued inShow MoreRelatedJustice, Masculinity, And Race And Crime Essay1370 Words   |  6 PagesPunished Victor Rios is not only an author of a book called Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys, but he is also an ex-felon. Rios holds a PH.D. in sociology and is now an assistant professor at the University of Santa Barbara. Victor Rios has published on juvenile justice, masculinity, and race and crime in scholarly in journals such as the Critical Criminology. He has not only lived the life he preaches about, he has shown to be extremely knowledgable in this life he has onceRead MorePolicing The Lives Of Black And Latino Boys1348 Words   |  6 PagesPolicing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys The book Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys was written by Victor M. Rios, containing 174 pages, and was published in 2011 by the New York University Press. In total, the book contains eight chapters with a preface, expanding on the methods and measures Rios used to collect information and interviews, and an appendix that Rios used to further explain the sociological impact criminology and race have had throughout history. The research for theRead MoreSummary Of The By Victor Rios1420 Words   |  6 PagesPunished Reflection Victor Rios starts of the book by giving a brief background of his own life and what he experienced as a child in the ghettos of Oakland, California and the events that caused him to turn from his old way of life. During the span of Victor Rios’ juvenile years he decide to join and become a gang member Rios states â€Å"I joined the gang seeking protection that I thought police and other authority figures in the community had failed to provide†(Rios ix) Rios’ quote is the most commonlyRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The By Victor Rios845 Words   |  4 PagesPunished was written by Victor Rios and published in 2011. Rios wrote the book to chronicle the challenges young black and Latino boys faced within their improvised highly criminalized neighborhoods. Rios grew up in Oakland California and lived in what was considered the ghettos mainly a minority poor community; he was also a gang member with his fair share of trouble. Rios began looking for answers to the plights he and his community faced after the murder of his friend while they ran from a rivalRead MoreWe Can Not Deny Society s Progression Of Social Equality Essay1187 Words   |  5 Pagesdiscoursed in Victor Rios’ Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys. Intersectionality posits that inequalities are not generated through one act or variable, but through a connected web of multiple variables that work together to oppress a group(s) of people (Collins and Blige 2016:1-6; Hill Collins 2000). Gender, race, sexuality, and class (among other diffuse characteristics) work together as a metaphorical net that aids in the maintenance of a systematic racial hegemony. Rios shadowedRead MoreOakland, California. A Place Where People Call It Home1636 Words   |  7 Pages Oakland, California. A place where people call it home or a war zone. In the case of many teenagers, Oakland was their destruction. Based on my reading, The Labeling Theory will best suit with this book simply because many teens from this volume were said to be someone they weren’t. In case you don’t know about this theory, the focus of it is not on the behavior of a person but on how others view that behavior or the person itself. According to the book â€Å"Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and