Colors Magazine Photo Editor Mauro Bedoni will examine the American juvenile justice system and its social implications at 5 p.m. today at UCSB’s Pollock Theater.

The UC Institute for Research in the Arts is sponsoring the event as a component of its three-part, multidisciplinary lecture series analyzing youth imprisonment through the fields of sociology, journalism and photojournalism. The series features talks from various experts including photography professor Richard Ross, writing professor Cissy Ross, sociology associate professor Victor Rios and Campus Chief of Police Dustin Olson.

Colors, a quarterly multilingual publication founded in 1991, cover major societal issues such as AIDS and immigration. Bedoni received a nomination for the Lucie Award for editor of the year for 2011.

According to Richard Ross, the lecture series highlights the cycle of incarceration and destitution a portion of American youth faces.

“Some kids are born in abject poverty,” Ross said. “They exist in a world that is economically deprived. They are in a community that expects kids to go into [the juvenile correction system] or into child protective services and that follows with drug use, and into criminalization [and] then into adult prisons.”

The program draws inspiration from Richard Ross’ “Juvenile-in-Justice” photojournalism project featuring photographs and interviews with approximately 1,000 individuals either incarcerated or working within facilities in over 30 states and 300 facilities.

Rios said he is collaborating with Richard and Cissy Ross to teach separate courses within their departments relating to American social justice.

“We’re going to each other’s classes and [lecture] about our work,” Rios said. “Students are taking a class from one professor on one subject that is trained in one area [and] what’s great about this collaboration is that students gain perspective from other disciplines in one topic, specifically juvenile justice in this case.”

Olson said he will discuss the system’s failure to provide convicted individuals more constructive punishment and rehabilitation during the series’ final installment on Feb. 22.

“The criminal justice system, in general, is punitive in nature whereas [it] can also take on a therapeutic role,” Olson said. “Everyone makes mistakes and the way we handle them and move forward is what counts. People make bad decisions from time to time, but it doesn’t mean that they are bad people — they [just make] poor choices.”

The Associated Students Program Board and the Art Department are sponsoring the lecture. The series is free to students. Visit www.facebook.com/juvenileinjustice.com for more information.