Victor Rios to Speak on Youth Control Complex Sept. 24

The School of Education will host the first installment of the Douglas P. Biklen Landscape of Urban Education Lecture Series on Wednesday, Sept. 24. Victor Rios, associate professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, will present “Punitive Social Control, the Youth Control Complex, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline: Dignity Enhancement and Restorative Approaches as Antidotes.”

Victor Rios

The lecture begins at 4 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium, and is free and open to the public. CART (Communication Access Real-time Translation) services will be provided.

Rios will discuss findings from 12 years of research on the school-to-prison pipeline and the collateral effects of mass incarceration on marginalized youths. Beyond describing the problem, Rios discusses viable solutions to reverse the effects of what he calls the Youth Control Complex. This presentation is the first in the 2014-15 Landscape of Urban Education series, which will address the theme, “Surveillance & Segregation in 21st Century Schools: Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline.”

Rios’ book “Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys” (NYU Press, 2011), analyzes how juvenile crime policies and criminalization affect the everyday lives of urban youth. He has published on juvenile justice, masculinity, and race and crime in scholarly journals such as The Annals of the Academy of Political and Social Sciences, Latino Studies and Critical Criminology. Rios conducts research on juvenile justice, social control, race, dignity, resilience and educational equity. Copies of the book will be for sale at the event, and Rios will be available for a book signing after the lecture.

Since 2005, the Landscape of Urban Education Lecture Series has been dedicated to the presentation of current ideas and strategies for navigating urban education terrain in the United States. The speakers engaged for this series are renowned scholars committed to revitalizing inclusive urban education. The School of Education invites all students, alumni, staff, faculty and friends in the community to experience these presentations.

A generous gift by School of Education Board of Visitors member Jeryl Mitchell ’81, G’83 named the lecture series in honor of retiring Dean Douglas P. Biklen. This will allow the lecture series to continue its mission and expand its audience and national reach for many years to come.