Criminalization and the Perceived Deviance of Latinos

There are different context in which labeling has specifically been used in the readings; however, there is an overarching theme in that the labels serve to undermine and to subjugate Latinos, Asian Americans and African Americans. The readings primarily focused on the criminalization and the perceived deviance of Latinos and Latino youth. In the book Punished by Victor Rios, he presents the argument that the consistent labeling by every state run institution that cast young Latinos as criminals or cast â€Å"at risk youth† expected to commit crimes is symptomatic of the social structures that creature the criminalization process of young Latinos. Non-state institutions as well as parents, who often seek help from them, are often advised to†¦show more content†¦5) and has actually made concessions that play into the labeling of community members as good-immigrant and bad-immigrant. The labels of good and bad immigrant only helps to further normalize the criminalization and dehumanization of people based on their migrant status. â€Å"The logical consequence of adopting a good-immigrant and a bad-immigrant binary is agreement that the undocumented are criminals and thus the natural and race neutral solution must be to punish and deport the undocumented for their reputed transgression–not to chal lenge the underlying structural reason people migrate.† (Gonzales, p. 151) This leads to the fragmentation of the migrant population and often leads to the splitting of families. The short term victories in immigration reform with the onset of bills such as DACA (Deferred Action for Children Act) playing on the depiction of parents forcing illegal migration on their children and the institutional recognition of it not being the child’s fault that their parent were criminals continues to deny the larger societal structures that continue to only perpetuate deferred consequence under the guise of progress. In Hector Tobar’s book The Barbarian Nurseries, the labeling that occurs is that of undocumented immigrant as criminal. The book, while fiction, illustrates how the concept of the â€Å"good immigrant† and the â€Å"bad immigrant† come into play in societal structures. Because of white privilege andShow MoreRelatedAlternative Learning Systems9735 Words   |  39 Pagesof the semester. Three students were black, 3 were Latino, and 3 were white. Additionally, 1 white student finished on the outside by taking his final exam after being released. The second author, Gretchen, taught an introduction to sociology course at a medium-security women’s prison. At the beginning of the semester there were 14 students enrolled—8 black, 1 Latino, and 5 white. However, only 7 students completed the course— 3 black, 1 Latino, and 3 white. As critical feminist pedagogues (Freire