Rios Punished Chapters 1 & 2 by Christine Zozula

Group 1: What was Rios' position as a researcher? Why does this matter?

zozula — 2023-11-09 16:56:31 UTC

Group 2: Why does Rios give us a history of Oakland? What does it have to do with anything? What connections does he make between know and previous systems of social control and surveillance?

zozula — 2023-11-09 16:56:57 UTC

Group 3: How did Rios get his data? Why does he claim this matters?

zozula — 2023-11-09 16:57:41 UTC

He recruited from the youth leadership project and east side youth center, the boys were aged 14-17 who had previously been arrested. He also chose boys who had been in the center/project for less than a month to ensure that they had not been influenced yet. Finally he also chose young men who were in similar situations. (Snowball sampling) Asked requited boys to refer him to those who had not been arrested.

He wanted to understand the process by which young men who lived in communities heavily effected by the criminal justice system turn into delinquent inner city youth. There experiences spoke directly to the impact of the punitive policies.

Group 4: Rios talks a lot about "governing through crime." What does that mean?

zozula — 2023-11-09 16:58:46 UTC

He describes how the ccj system has been used as a template to solve other social problems such as school failure, poverty, youth delinquency etc.

Crime and criminal justice permeates through institutions which make opportunities for governance.

An example of this is Zero-tolerance policies in schools to crack down on serious crime by punishing small offenses.

Group 5: What is the Youth Control Complex?

zozula — 2023-11-09 16:59:14 UTC

The Youth Control Complex is a form of systematic punishment inflicted on young individuals in marginalized communities in Oakland. An example of this is the coin-tell-pro, the FBI and CIA enacted a group to unfairly target individuals, especially youths in the black panther party. The youths were aware of this when they stated that they rarely if ever had a positive experience with the police. They were used to being stopped and harassed by law enforcement for no reason.

Group 2:

2023-11-09 18:22:46 UTC

Rios gives a history of Oakland to help understand the demographic breakdown of the community. He does this because it is important to understand the dynamic of the city, along with the economic conditions for the different demographics. Young men are placed in a database which can increase the charges or sentences that can be given for charges. Youth in Oakland have historically been victimized and Oakland is a pioneer of youth criminalization.