As part of the HSI speaker series, Xavier Perez, Ph.D., Director and Co-founder of the Criminology program at DePaul University, came to John Jay College to change the narrative surrounding criminality. During his presentation, Critical Perspectives in Criminology: Moving beyond the Rhetoric of Law & Order, on March 25, 2019, Perez told the audience his redemption story, from incarcerated youth to his career at DePaul, and provided his listeners with solutions to change the way criminality is perceived and how to include marginalized voices in the conversation. 

His Personal Story
The topic of criminology is personal for Perez. Growing up in Chicago, Perez was incarcerated multiple times by the age of 15. “I grew up in a predominately working class Puerto Rican community in Humboldt Park, Chicago. Like all working class communities, we had our share of social ills, like poverty, underfunded schools, lack of adequate housing, and crime,” he said. “As a young minority male in the late 1980s through early 1990s, I became involved in the streets. By the age of 15 I was getting myself in trouble and found myself incarcerated in juvenile detention centers and under the supervision of all sorts of state operated institutions.” According to Perez, when you’re living a life of crime, the more you get in trouble and incarcerated, the more “successful” you become at being in trouble. “I knew that I was going to be successful. The greatness that I envisioned on the street was being the leader of my gang. And then going to prison and meeting my gang chiefs,” he stated. “I looked at that as my goal, and I certainly was on the path to become successful. I had been arrested and incarcerated multiple times and every time I came back, I had more credibility and that much more authority on the streets.”

On one of these trips, Perez recalled seeing a beautiful mural filled with gang symbols outside the detention center. And, although his initial thoughts were about his life of crime and the success that he may one day have, he wondered what his life would be like if he listened to the people who always saw potential in him, like Mr. Kuhn, his high school history teacher. Remembering back on one of his many interventions—he dropped out of high school three times—Perez spoke about the words Mr. Kuhn told him. “He said, ‘Xavier, you know the one regret I have in life? It’s that I'm not going to see you when you are shining. I'm not going to see you when you are great.’ These are words that have always resonated with me.” Taking this conversation to heart, Perez applied himself in school and went on to attend the University of Illinois, earning his Ph.D. in Criminology.

While Perez sees the way his life has changed, he recognizes that not everyone is so lucky. When speaking about his success story, he brought up this idea of merit within society. “We like to think about society as being one of individualism and merit, and pulling myself up by my bootstraps, but I certainly will challenge that idea,” he said. “I did not arrive to where I am by myself. Not at all. There was an absence in my growing up and in my family. But that absence was filled by programs, individuals and the high generosity and commitment to me as an individual.” This is why, according to Perez, he teaches Criminology, because he understands that without the help of community and the individuals within the community, youth in the criminal justice system will forever be stuck in a vicious cycle of incarceration.

The Traditional Idea
When the term “criminology” was first defined, there were two main schools of thought: the positivist school and the classical school. The former, led by “the father of criminology” Cesare Lombroso, believed that criminal behavior came from external factors—like poverty and the lack of an education—that controlled an individual’s behavior. The latter is based on Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham’s four principal ideas: one, that people have the free will to choose how to act; two, deterrence is based on the fact that humans are hedonists who weigh the costs and benefits of their actions; three, that severe punishments can deter people from committing crimes; and four, that the more swift and certain the crime, the more effective it will be.

Elaborating on the classical school, Perez mentioned the rational choice theory which focuses on the idea that an individual has the option to choose whether or not they will commit a crime and that punishments should be severe. This is something Perez says he doesn’t completely agree with. “When I think about the choice theory, I think you can argue for choice if you have good options. If you have good options in front of you, and you make some bad choices, being punished makes sense,” said Perez. “But, if you have bad options in front of you, then in that instance you are making the best possible decision out of all bad choices. In this case, you can make punishment as severe as you’d like, but if people are starving and in need of some resources, then that punishment doesn't really mean anything to them.” 

After explaining the founding ideas behind criminology, Perez summarized what it means for our communities. “Traditionally the definition of criminality, considers marginalized groups as a threat. It’s believed that marginalized groups don’t work, that they drain the social resources, and are poor through many of the choices that they make, and should be punished for those choices,” said Perez. This traditional definition plays a role in the state failing communities and the strained relationship between law enforcement and community members.

Consequences of Criminology
Next, Perez informed the audience on the consequences that stem from the traditional definition of criminology. He began by saying that the traditional notions just “reinforce punitive responses rather than exploring the causes of crimes.” Perez believes that society’s goal is to control the most vulnerable groups, and the state does this by having community residents maintain social order by policing their neighbors and reporting suspicious behavior. “The state understood that it didn’t have the resources to deal with crime. So they invited community members to participate in the policing process.” Perez said. “In many ways the state has absolved itself from taking care of communities and the most vulnerable and has left it in the hands of community residents. That's when you begin to see, this self-policing and then there's too many incidents to go over them.”

Referring to these incidents brought Perez to his third consequence, the war on drugs, and how that war is leading to the militarization of police throughout the country. “There were many jurisdictions throughout the world where drugs weren’t a priority or a concern for the police. However, when the federal government began to provide more funding if police followed the priorities of the federal government, police did so to receive that funding,” Perez said. “And so, local agencies all throughout the country started applying for military training. Unfortunately, when you are training as a military, you are trained to deal with people as enemy combatants. That is not policing.”

Perez noted that the consequence of the war on drugs has led to a whole group of individuals missing within communities. “Where are the 20 year old minority males? Where are your minority males in upper education?” asked Perez. “I have an answer for that. They’re in prisons.” Citing the change in policies over the past 40 years, he stated how these policies have shifted these minority populations from participating in traditional economies by attending schools and working, to being dragnet. He likened this idea to throwing fishnets in the sea to catch fish. “Our ideas of trying to catch a criminal are that we cast these fishnets into society, hoping to capture those major criminals, whether they are the drug dealers or kingpin gang leaders,” said Perez. “The reality is that you might catch a couple of those, but in the process you are probably catching a whole bunch of little fish that have no business being in the criminal justice system. And, that's the consequence of our policy.”

Alternatives for Change
Changing topics, Perez spoke about the work that he does as a way to encourage others to seek alternate ways to defining criminality. “I go into my community and tell them about the history of a time period when people worked together to develop a community that was able to address crime,” he said. “I inform them about their rights when they’re under custody of the criminal justice system, so they understand what they can do and what shouldn’t take place.” Along with informing the community, Perez mentioned that it’s important to look at the causes of crime. “If you look at the U.S. in the 1960s, when communities were rioting, at the heart of that was housing segregation, lacking economic opportunities, a sense of hopelessness, and police brutality. When you look at all the instances since then, many of those circumstances are still around today,” said Perez. Rather than marginalizing minorities, Perez stated that it’s important to address these housing issues and lack of opportunities as a way to include young minority men in their community and help them succeed.

In trying to integrate minorities into their community, Perez suggests that we have to consider the contributions Latinx people make to society. He noted that contrary to what people think, Latinx communities actually challenge the assumptions of traditional criminality. Referring to the Latinx Paradigm, Perez stated that “Latinx communities have high levels of poverty but low rates of crime.” And that instead of being known for their perceived rates of crime, the Latinx community should be acknowledged for their strong kinship ties, their creation of dense networks of social capital and social support, how they attract employers and businesses, and how they enforce the traditional family structures and foster connections through protective institutions. “When you think about all of the reasons for why we have seen a decline in crime since the 1990s, you have authors and scholars argue that it's because there’s a high growth of the Latinx community and the influx of immigrants into our society,” Perez mentioned. “In this current climate, we think about immigration as a negative and we think of immigrants in a criminal term. I would say, ‘If you want to reduce crime, put immigrants into that community.’”

Offering some last remarks, Perez mentioned Mr. Kuhn once more. “When I reflect back on the people who helped me get to where I am today, they saw something I did not see in myself,” he said. “There was no way that I would have been teaching Criminology from where I was at 15. I would not have imagined that to be the case. They saw the potential inside of me to be greater than whatever definition had been placed before me.” He continued, challenging others to do the same. “I challenge and encourage everyone to see beyond any notions of criminality and to look at the potential that people have because you never know where they might land,” Perez said. “With the limited time that you have in front of people who are perceived to be trouble or problematic, you could have a meaningful impact on their lives moving forward.”