Punished: Summary of Chapter Three

Dr. Rios’s purpose in writing this chapter is to convince the reader that Tyrell and Jose, as well as many other gang members, had been trapped into joining the gangs or committing criminal activity such as selling drugs to provide for themselves, since the police could not provide them with what they needed. Tyrell is the first focus of the chapter and Rios goes into detail on the Ville, which is “a low income housing project on 66th Avenue and International,” (45) known by many to be one of the most crime-ridden areas in Oakland. Tyrell talks about how his father taught him that the police were the good guys and to obey the law. Tyrell later grew up to “look like a man by age twelve,” (49) which made him a target for criminal suspicions and random checks. To see his father struggling financially as well as see himself getting stopped by the police for no reason other than his appearance, he resorted to selling drugs in order to support himself, since it “was one of the only ways he could make some money.” (50) Rios wanted to show that police were not helping him, contrary to what he was taught by his father. This lead to Tyrell having nothing to fall back on as a reliable source of help, so he had no choice but to resort to criminal activity to help support himself.

Rios meets with another individual, Jose, who lives in a complex near 80th and International. His complex was often times loitered by gang members, who would inflict fear into Jose at an early age, by “shoot[ing] their guns and break[ing] shit and fight[ing].” (52) When Jose was young, he was walking back from the liquor store, where he had purchased a gallon of milk for his family. On his way back, a teenage gang member pushed Jose on his back, landing on the gallon of milk. The teenage boys laughed at him. In retaliation, Jose went to the police where he reported the story, to find out that the officer had “better things to do.” (52) This basically told Jose that he could not rely on