Opportunity Theory Of Crime In Punished By Victor Rios

In Punished by Victor Rios, besides labeling, opportunity theory of crime is the most visible in the lives of the young men because for most of the participants, the only available opportunities for survival are through crime or other deviant behavior. In chapter 3, Rios follows two boys who each found their way into crime because of the lack of other options. In the case of Tyrell, with his father being unable to get a real job, Tyrell saw selling drugs as the only way to make money with which to support himself. “They chose to commit a crime,” Rios comments of the boys in his study, “consciously calculating the potential risk of arrest and incarceration. Many of the boys came to this assessment after believing that they had no other choice, …show more content…
When Jose was a young child, the gangs in his housing complex caused many very real issues for the residents of the building, however, when Jose asked the police for help dealing with them, he was laughed at. Rampant gun violence and other dangerous aspects of gang life threatened Jose’s family; knowing that he would get no help from the police and not seeing any other option for him to protect his family, Jose joined the gang. “Jose, however, knew that, based solely on the apartment he lived in, he had become a target for other gangs.” Rios explains, “Based on previous experience with the police, he believed they were not going to find the shooters” (60). Without being able to rely on the aid of police for protection and doing their job, Jose felt he had no choice but to join up with a gang which would provide the much needed protection from other gangs. Rios acknowledges that this is the same for many of the young men in his study, that while gangs are dangerous, they at least provide some protection from the violence unlike the police who just add another …show more content…
The complete lack of resources in school or of jobs in the workforce push these young men to commit crimes for basic needs such as money for rent or other necessities. When the world has only provided opportunities which are illegal, the costs of the punishment are paled by the monetary benefits of selling drugs or the heightened safety in preemptive action of gangs against rival gangs. This theory about crime connects directly to the theme of social-bond theory, which is also one of Rios’ major focuses in this book. Overall, feeling alone, unprotects, criminalized, and without hope for a better life, the young men in this book find their own solutions to their