Les yeux et les oreilles du juge ? Le SAMRE, un service de la justice des mineurs au Brésil (BH)

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide a sociological analysis of certain principles which underlie the Brazilian youth justice system, based on the study of a specific unit within the youth justice department of the Belo Horizonte court, part of the major metropolis of Minas Gerais. By observing the work of these professionals, we are able to see how committed they are to their mission, applying directives which have an individualising effect, imposing on the young people a work of self-reflection, an awareness of their situation and an attitude of « accountability » in the face of the crime committed and, more widely, life itself. If approaching « young delinquents » this way allows these professionals to occasionally feel they can influence the young people and the problem of delinquency, it is also clear that these same professionals are all too frequently faced with difficulties which remind them that this focus on the individual is at odds with the social reality of the young.

Keywords

• delinquency
• justice
• Brazil
• young people and adolescents
• individual
• psychoanalysis