Abstract

CARVALHO, Maria João Leote de. Youth, spaces, trajectories and delinquency. Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas [online]. 2005, n.49, pp.53-70. ISSN 0873-6529.

The background to this article is the reform of the Portuguese legal system relating to minors in judicial custody. A synthesis is provided of the main conclusions of a study whose principal aim was to draw a sociographic portrait of the universe of the young people in custody at the end of the year 2000, before the new law on minors in judicial custody due to the commission of offenses came into force (Lei Tutelar Educativa). In the findings on the nature and direction of their life-courses in the time before they were first placed in an institution, situations of poverty, marginalization and social exclusion, associated with a negative family interaction, were not only the point of departure but also the destination.

Keywords : Deviation; delinquency; youth; legal system for minors in judicial custody.

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