Victor M. Rios

The first chapter of Policing Gangs in America is entitled, “Studying the Police Response to Gangs.” The primary purpose of the chapter is to establish how police agencies; Inglewood, Las Vegas, Albuquerque and Phoenix in specific,

Prior to being assigned the reading of the memoir “Always Running”, by Luis Rodriguez, I had never given much thought on juveniles involved in gang life. Rodriguez achieved success as an award-winning poet; sure the streets would no longer haunt him - until his own son joined a gang. Rodriguez fought for his child by telling his own story in the vivid memoir, “Always Running.” “Always Running” is the compilation of events Luis experienced during his youth in San Gabriel. The theme of the book is to always strive for the best things in life and to always take a stand for what you believe. Lured by the seemingly invincible gang culture of East L.A., he witnessed countless shootings and beatings, as well as senseless acts of street crime against his friends and family members. As a Latino in a poor neighborhood, Luis struggled through criticism, stereotypes, and mistreatment. With the help of his mentor, Chente, Luis saw a way out through education and the power of word to successfully break free from years of violence and desperation.

Labeling theory makes no attempt to understand why an individual initially engaged in primary deviance and committed a crime before they were labeled; this then limits the scope of the theory’s explanations and suggests the theory may not provide a better account for crime. Labeling theory emphasizes the negative effects of labeling, which gives the offender a victim status. Also, the same likelihood exists for developing a criminal career regardless of deviance being primary or secondary. Furthermore, labeling theorists are only interested in understanding the aftermath of an individual getting caught committing crime and society attaching a label to the offender. This differs from the view of social learning theory, which seeks to explain the first and subsequent criminal acts. Many critics also argue that the racial, social, and economic statuses of an individual create labels, as opposed to criminal acts; this theory then fails to acknowledge that those statuses may factor into the labeling process. As a result, the above suggests that labeling theory does not provide a good account for crime and appropriately has little empirical support. Moreover, in terms of policy implications, labeling theory implies a policy of radical non-intervention, where minor offenses

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 the book takes place in the ghetto of Oakland, California over a three-year period from 2002 to 2005. Having a previous history in Oakland, Rios decided to shadow and interview black and Latino adolescence males from poverty and lower-class

Deviance is a behavior, trait or belief that is not the norm and provokes a negative reaction in a particular group. The documentary, “Prison State”, explores four citizens who have been deemed deviant under law in the United States. The main focus of this documentary is crime, punishment, and the cycle that filters people in and out of the penitentiary. The documentary can be supported by many examples and theories of deviance explained in chapter six of the textbook, however there are a couple that are more prevalent than others, such as, crime and demographics, as well as, deterrence and punishment. Crime is a type of deviance that is punishable when enforced by the law.

Brym, R.J., & Lie, J., & Rytina, S. (2010) Deviance and Crime. Sociology: Your Compass for a New World. 3rd Canadian Edition. Toronto: Oxford University Press. Toronto: Nelson

Associating with the self-fulfilling prophecy, master status, and symbolic interactionism, Howard Becker’s labeling theory, views deviance as not an innate act, but rather, elects to target society impulse to engage in stigmatization (Cartwright, 2011). In this paper, I will discuss the implications of labeling specifically in the articles “The Saints and the Roughnecks” by William Chambliss and “On Being Sane In Insane Places” by David Rosenhan. Additionally, I will be discussing the far-reaching effects of negative labeling an individual, with respect to concepts such as labeling theory, the self-fulfilling prophecy, and master status.

People who are born with stigmatized identities are better equipped with tools to better deal with prejudices they may face. Yet those who acquire prejudice later in life, such as physical disabilities may have more difficulties coping with the stigma, since they have not had enough time to learn the self-protective strategies. Another one of the moderating effects is the concealibility of the stigma, that individuals with less visible stigmas experience less prejudice and negative interactions. For example, people with mental illnesses such as depression can sometimes “pass” as healthy individuals because the symptoms are not visible to others or they actively try to hide them. Yet this also renders in-group comparisons more difficult since it is harder to identity other stigmatized people. It is also more difficult to attribute the negative treatments they experience to prejudice. Responsibility for the stigmatizing condition by one self or others is also a moderating effect. When people attribute more personal responsibilities to the stigma, they tend to be more vulnerable and have less self-esteem. For instance, when victims and survivors of sexual assault blame themselves for the violence done to them, they are more likely to have poor psychological outcomes, guilt, and low self-esteem. Moreover, individuals who have had the stigma since birth, such as coming from a low-income household, are less likely to take responsibility for the

Rios’ work suggests that people drop out, commit crimes, and adapt themselves to a ‘fugitive life’ because they are unable to find an institution that grants them the acknowledgment and dignity that they are systematically denied. This analysis gives great context to the lives of career criminals…”Accessible, engaging and thought provoking, Punished presents unique data and compelling analytical insights, opening what should prove to be a fruitful line of research. For this reason and other reasons…this important book is a worthwhile read for anyone within or outside the academy who is looking to understand the punitive turn in American society from the perspective of those who are most heavily policed, punished and

Once a person is viewed deviant or criminal many people lose faith, doubting the offender’s ability to conform. Overcoming such labels are possible by developing strong relationships with family, friends, and counselors which will eventually reduce the effectiveness of criminal labels. Also, offenders should disassociate themselves with people who get into trouble. The most important step offenders should take is to simply ignore the negative stigma and conform to society. Although, many offenders succumb to criminal identities there are many who reframe from future

Consistent with labeling theory, arrest resulted in further offending. However, more significant than the effect of reoffending, was the effect of rearrest. That is, the likelihood of a youth to experience rearrest was greater than his propensity to reoffend. The researchers interpreted these findings to indicate that a first arrest increases subsequent contact with law enforcement officials (secondary sanctioning), who label the youth with an official delinquent status, following his first offense (e.g., primary deviation). This process mirrors Lemert’s (1951) description of the pathway to secondary deviance, whereby, primary deviation is responded to with sanctioning, which progresses into secondary deviance, further sanctioning, and basically an inability to escape the initial label due to stigma. As a result, previously arrested youth become more likely to be reacted to by law enforcement, compared with youth who have identical levels of offending, but managed to evade the “arrestee” or “delinquent” label.

Goffman's analyses of stigmas and other labels are important discussions on social deviance and conformity. They were not the first, however, having had many major and minor precursors. F.D. O'Sullivan's little known 1928 Crime Detection presents a list of environmental factors contributing to a · culture for urban deviance (R.G. O'Sullivan forth- coming) and one variable is incarceration that opens revolving doors for continued juvenile deviance. Marked youths may adopt the label of spoiled identity as their own and act on it, contributing to the self-fulfilling prophecy of deviance that Tannenbaum (1938) called the "dramatization of evil." That idea was later reinforced in Lemert's (1951) discussions about the shift from primary deviance

We are beginning to see more than often, labeling of juvenile delinquents by members of their society. The term labeling theory explains how labeling tends to applied members of society, whether it is formally or informally, and the type of effect these labeling can have on juveniles and deterrence. Akers & Sellers, (2009), & Bernard, Snipes, & Gerould, (2010), states that the labeling theorists assert that society creates deviance by creating laws, and they tend to agree that the original action of deviance displayed by an offender is not as important as the continuation and escalation of deviance. Labeling theory has more experiential support than deterrence theory. The Labeling theory acknowledges the role that is played by formal/informal social control. Labeling theory is “also recognizes that criminal behavior is not an illness or something that can be treated as “curable” and this theory distinguishes between primary deviance and secondary deviance and acknowledges that these be treated differently” (Baldwin, 2014). Deterrence, on the other hand, suggests that the embarrassment and shame of being caught in a felonious act and then being called a criminal is enough to prevent future criminal acts. When examining “labeling theory it is more accurate when researching adolescences from disorganized neighborhoods or criminal families” (Baldwin, 2014), and deterrence might be more precise “in cohesive neighborhoods than in

The labeling theory proposes that once a juvenile has been labeled a deviant or delinquent they become stigmatized as a criminal, and begin to believe the label or accept it in a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because of these labels, many juveniles continue with their deviant acts because they feel obligated to act out in a negative manner. Sociologists Tannenbaum, Becker, Lement are more interested in the reaction to the crime, not the cause of the crime, and have theorized that once an individual is formally labeled or tagged by the criminal justice system they will develop a negative self-concept that makes them self-conscious and conscious of societal reactions, which encourage the individual into future deviance. Although the

In disintegrative shaming, after the offender completed their punishment for the crime they committed, they are not warmly welcomed back to society compared to the reintegrated shaming method. They will be stigmatized as a “criminal” forever. Disintegrative shaming creates a group of individuals that are not accepted back into their communities making them social outcasts (Braithwaite, 1989 p.55). These outcasts cannot carry on with their lives because of the stigma of being a criminal following them where ever they go. The criminal acts that an individual took part in will be the only aspect about that individual that the community sees; their poor behavior is not transient. In this shaming method, their poor behavior overlooks and takes precedent over the fact they might be a good person.