Care as an analysis category and orientation about socio-educational measures for adolescents in Uruguay

Abstract

The article addresses the issue of socio-educational confinement measures for adolescents in the path through the Uruguayan Juvenile Penal System. The aim is to highlight how the ethics of the care of agents in charge of the custody of adolescents is composed. The research is qualitative and develops a unique, descriptive and in-depth case study. From an ethnographic approach, it develops techniques of in-depth interviews, observation, and analysis of documents. The results show the functioning of the confinement measures through the analysis of three key elements of the institution´s daily interactions: the experiences of the agents in charge of the custody of adolescents, their interpretations and definitions on socio-educational measures and the adolescent population. It concludes on the importance of guiding the implementation of socio-educational measures from the care approach to improve the adolescent´s conditions in the system.

Keywords

• ethics of care
• juvenile penalty
• state practices
• uruguay