User:Blunt001/sandbox

Early Life
Victor Rios grew up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in East Oakland, surrounded by drugs and gangs, joining one at the age of 14 for protection. By 2005, he earned his PhD from UC Berkley. Prior to becoming a scholar Dr. Rios was a gang member who was also a high school dropout, was incarcerated, fatherless, living the gang life. Events that happened in his life closely resemble his publications as these are experiences he has lived.

Career
Dr. Rios' work is mostly about how race, inequality and class play a role in determining if a person will be successful in education. He is currently a sociology professor at California State University Santa Barbara teaching corses related to social injustice. He is the co-winner of the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award in 2013 for his publication of his book Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys. Dr. Rios is also the founder of the sociological theory titled Youth Control Complex. He uses terms like "at promise youth" which opposes the "at risk youth" claiming that the term "at risk" has damaging affects on children because he was once classified as such.

Publications
As well as being a professor, Dr. Rios' is also an author. He has published 5 books including Project Grit, Human Targets, Buscando Vida, Street Life, and Punished. "Project GRIT aims to inspire educators and service providers on how to develop programming that can positively impact the lives of the lives of the young people they serve". Human Targets is about the creation of identities that authroities and institutions create that determines if a kid will be successfull. In Buscando Vida the book teaches parents how to become leaders and advocates in their childrens lives. Street Life this book focuses on Dr. Rios' life prior to being a scholar and the adversity he face. This book explains what it was like to grow up in poverty, without a father, gang life, high school drop out and being incarcerated. Punished is a book in which Dr. Rios has won awards and received honorable mentions for. This book focuses on the experiences of 40 delinquent black and Latino boys that have been labeled as deviant and thus will act as such much like Labeling theory explains.