Honorable Mention, 2014 Eduardo Bonilla-Silva Outstanding Book Award
presented by the Society for the Study of Social Problems
2012 Best Book Award, Latino/a Sociology Section, presented by the
American Sociological Association
2012 Finalist, C. Wright Mills Book Award presented by the Study of
Social Problems
A classic ethnography that reveals how urban police criminalize 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.
