Street Life Summary: The book is primarily about Dr. Victor Rios’s childhood poverty, involvement in gangs, and how he finally acquired a Ph. D. Rios was brought up by a single parent in Oakland, California, amid abject poverty and extreme violence. When he was thirteen, Rios became a member of a gang whose influence led him to drop out of school at the age of sixteen after being neglected and bullied. Rios engaged in various crimes and had been incarcerated several times by the time he was sixteen. However, after gang rivals killed one of his friends, he decided to quit the life of crime, and his teachers offered him the necessary support. After sharing his experiences with his teacher, his potential was evident. He went back to school, later enrolled at college, and earned a bachelor’s degree before advancing to acquire a Ph. D and eventually becoming a professor of sociology.
Socialization/Agents of Socialization: According to Ferris and Stein, socialization is “the process of learning and internalizing the values, beliefs, and norms of our social group, by which we become functioning members of society” (99). In essence, socialization can be described as the process by which an individual adapts their behavior to the norms of a particular social group or society. On the other hand, agents of socialization are “social groups, institutions, and individuals that provide structured situations in which socialization takes place” (Ferris and Stein 109). In other words, agents of socialization include individuals and groups that contribute to the process of socialization. They include peer groups, family, schools, and mass media. Primarily, two agents of socialization had a profound impact on Rios’s socialization. First, the gang that he joined was responsible for various crimes in Oakland. In his socialization process, one of the gang members taught him how to make a master key for the 80’s Hondas. This instance exemplifies how young Rios adapted his behavior to the criminal norms of the gang, which significantly impacted his life and development of self. Notably, the tragic killing of his best friend was an experience that made him turn his life around. Second, the school significantly influenced Rios’s socialization. After quitting the gang and sharing his experiences with one of his high school teachers, the teacher played a crucial role in reshaping the transformed student’s socialization. With the teacher’s help, Rios underwent a personal change that ultimately made his life a success.
Status: In the words of Ferris and Stein, status is “a position in a social hierarchy that carries a particular set of expectations” (115). Fundamentally, status can be defined as one’s relative social standing. Three types of statuses exist, which include ascribed, embodied, and achieved status. Ascribed status refers to that which one is born with and is unchangeable, such as race or gender, while embodied status is located in an individual’s physical self, such as disability. In contrast, one earns achieved status through their own efforts and includes skill or occupation. Additionally, a status that overshadows all other statuses is known as a master status (Ferris and Stein 115). Undoubtedly, in Street Life, Victor Rios held several of these statuses. For instance, he held the ascribed status by being a man, hence belonging to the male gender. Also, becoming a professor of sociology and working at the University of California earned him an achieved status. In addition to the support he received from his teachers and mentors, his individual efforts significantly contributed to his academic success amid numerous life struggles. Rios’s occupation as a university Professor can also be considered as a master status since it overrides all the other statuses in his current identity.
Roles: Ferris and Stein define role as “the set of behaviors expected of someone because of his or her status” (115). Put differently; the term role refers to the duties and behaviors related to a particular status. Throughout his life, Victor Rios experienced role conflict, role strain, and role exit. He experienced role conflict during his life as a gang member. When Rios joined the gang, he was only thirteen, which implies that he was still a child and therefore had specific duties to perform just like any other child. Mainly, being from a single-parent household, it was his duty to respect his parent, carry out his schoolwork, and other necessary chores at home. However, being a gang member, he had additional roles to play in the criminal activities of the gang. For instance, after dropping out of school and joining the criminal group, he was responsible for stealing cars. Notably, his roles as a gang member conflicted with the set of behavior expected from his position as a child. Further, in Street life, Rios experienced role strain as a gang member. As aforementioned, Rios had a role to play in the gang to which he was a member. At the same time, he had a high school teacher by the name Flora Russ who always encouraged him to return to school. Therefore, while he was expected to continue serving the gang, his teacher expected him to resume his studies. Eventually, these contradictory expectations, within his role as a gang member led to his role exit, whereby he left his role as a gang member, turned his life around, and carried on with his studies.