Estudios Fronterizos (Nov 2015)
Life and punishment: Youth in prison sentenced for murder in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
Abstract
This article presents the results of a research project in which the symbolic construction of life and death in young people is analyzed within a context of violence in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. It particularly analyzes the stories of the life experience of young male inmates at the state Center for Social Reinsertion (Centro de Reinserción Social – CERESO) No. 3 in this border city who were involved in the crime of murder in the 2008–2012 period. This study shows the national and state scenario of juveniles convicted of this crime in recent years, focusing the analysis from a sociocultural perspective on the subjective production of punishment and from a criminal law perspective by discussing the figures of the citizen and the enemy.
