state:
California
Local history:
In Detention
How have youth been criminalized?
University of California, Riverside
Exhibiting Partner:
California Museum of Photography, University of California Riverside
3824 Main Street, Riverside, CA 92501-3624
May 7, 2016August 6, 2016

States of Incarceration is now at the Levine Museum in Charlotte, NC

States of Incarceration is extended in NC! September 23, 2023 - January 31, 2023 at the Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte, NC!

401 S Tryon St, Charlotte, NC 28202

go to www.museumofthenewsouth.org for more information.

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California: In Detention
How have youth been criminalized?
University of California, Riverside

Since the opening of state institutions for “juvenile delinquents” and “uncivilized” Native American children in the 1890s, young people of color and those with disabilities have been disproportionately subjected to technologies and cultures of control. Whittier State School for juvenile offenders and Riverside’s Sherman Institute both used disciplinary regimens and scientific research to link race to criminality. The purpose, at best, was to assimilate and train youth for menial labor and, at worst, to segregate, incarcerate, and sterilize them. Like the mid-twentieth century fears of “juvenile delinquents,” gang injunctions since the 1980s and racial profiling continue the policing of youth culture. Schools, too, with police, surveillance, cell-like buildings, and punitive testing, bear hallmarks of a penal system. Though legally bound to reside within these technologies of control, youth find ways to resist criminal labeling, and they fight for change.

Our Point of View

UCR is a socioeconomically diverse campus with many people directly affected by racial profiling, detention, and incarceration. As graduate students educated in the California system, our aim was to trace a long history of how state institutions, from schools to prisons, have waged war on marginalized youth. We also wanted to spotlight community-generated, youth-driven social change.

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California: In Detention    University of California, Riverside
How have youth been criminalized?
California: In Detention
How have youth been criminalized?
  University of California, Riverside

National Exhibition Venue    California Museum of Photography, University of California Riverside

Public Dialogues and Events
| May 7 – August 6, 2016

See Full Exhibition & Events Schedule
“Several of my friends and family have been incarcerated. I was also married to a police officer. I am frustrated by our system. ”  — Stephanie
“I am an undocumented immigrant youth who can be easily targeted due to my immigration status and the color of my skin. ”  — Anonymous

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