UCSB Professor Víctor Ríos
Víctor Ríos to talk about “Punished: Policing the lives of Black and Latino boys’ at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8 at the UCSB Multiculture Center Theater, the university reported in a media release.
Ríos analyzes how punitive juvenile crime policies and criminalization affect the everyday lives of Black and Latino urban youth. He deftly balances analysis with vivid anecdotes about uninterested educators, struggling parents, police brutality, and gang victimization.
Ríos terms this criminalization “the youth control complex” and explains how it systematically deprives boys of their dignity and their ability to succeed at school or in the job market. Once they accumulate “negative credentials,” the young men are subject to increased surveillance — and are consequently more likely to end up in prison.
Ríos makes a compelling argument that better financed social programs and positive reinforcement could make all the difference.
Ríos is associate professor of Sociology at UC Santa Barbara. His research interests include urban ethnography, policing, criminal justice, and youth culture.
In 2010 Ríos received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduate Research, The Margaret T. Getman Service to Students Award, the Office of Residential Life Outstanding Faculty Award, and the “Young Scholar Award” from the American Society of Criminology Division on People of Color.
He is also the recipient of the 2011-12 Harold J. Plous Award, one of the university’s most prestigious faculty honors given annually to an assistant professor from the humanities, social sciences, or natural sciences who has shown exceptional achievement in research, teaching, and service to the university.
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