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The youth control complex is a theory developed by Chicano scholar Victor M. Rios to describe what he refers to as the overwhelming system of criminalization that is shaped by the systematic punishment that is applied by institutions of social control against boys of color in the United States. Rios articulates that there are many components of this complex which are enacted upon youth throughout their daily lives. For example, "while being called a 'thug' by a random adult may seem trivial to some people, when a young person is called a 'thug' by a random adult, told by a teacher that they will never amount to anything, and frisked by a police officer, all in the same day, this combination becomes greater than the sum of its parts."[1][2] Scholars trace the origins of the youth control complex back to the mid-1970s. In addition, the criminalization and surveillance of Black and Latino bodies increased in the post-9/11 era.[3]
Rios notes that the youth control complex affects how youth perceive their futures and has deep negative psychological consequences for the mental health of Black and Latino boys while also normalizing harmful practices, such as transforming schools into prison-like institutions and proliferating child abuse. The youth control complex involves both symbolic and material criminalization and its impact on Black and Latino youth is described as intentional to funnel them into the school-to-prison pipeline, rather than benign. Rios himself experienced contact with this system of criminalization growing up in Oakland, California and drew on his personal experience as well as interviews with other youths of color in developing the theory.[1][4][3] Rios also envisions a "youth support complex" as a potential solution to the youth control complex. This new model would shift decision-making power from school administrators and law enforcement to students themselves.[1]
- ^ a b c Rios, Victor M. (2011). Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys. New York University Press. pp. xiv, 40–42.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:3was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Giroux, Henry A. (3 November 2009). "Ten Years after Columbine: the tragedy of youth deepens". Policy Futures in Education. 7 (3): 356–57. doi:10.2304/pfie.2009.7.3.356. S2CID 140400164.
- ^ Rios, Victor M.; Vigil, James Diego (2017). Human Targets: Schools, Police, and the Criminalization of Latino Youth. University of Chicago Press. pp. 5–6. ISBN 9780226090993.
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