Dr. Contreras is an Associate Professsor in the Media & Cultural Studies Dept at UCR. He acquired his Ph.D. from The Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is the author of the multiple-award winning book, The Stickup Kids: Race, Drugs, Violence and the American Dream, which captures how the transformation of an illegal drug market in the South Bronx shaped and influenced drug dealers to become violent drug robbers. He has also done research in South Central, where he examined the ethnic conflicts between Mexicans and African Americans, especially in how residents interpret ethnic gangs. A common theme in his work is the critical intersection of history, social structure, and biography, an intersection that sheds light on how criminal phenomena emerge and how they shape the behavior and meanings of people. His research and teaching interests include gangs, illegal drug markets, and racial and ethnic conflicts in marginal communities.