Experiencing discrimination: Narratives of young people in prisons in southern Spain

• In Event: Criminology of Mobility. Panel 4. Ethnicity, youth and crime.

Abstract

This study aims to conduct a qualitative exploration of the experiences of discrimination and perceptions of police treatment among a group of young people in prison, accessed during the implementation of the research project “Foreign former foster youths in Andalusian prisons” (P20-00381-R). For this research, a validated structured questionnaire was administered to foreign and national young people between the ages of 18 and 30 who had previously been under the child protection system and are currently incarcerated. The questionnaire inquired about experiences of victimization before and after reaching adulthood, addressing situations of discrimination, police interventions such as stops and searches, and perceptions of police treatment both in public spaces and police stations. The findings suggest that discrimination is perceived and experienced in different ways among the profiles of incarcerated youth. Specifically, for foreign youth, these experiences may impact their transition to adulthood and social integration by limiting their ability to fully exercise certain rights, such as access to the labor market and the renewal of their documentation upon reaching legal adulthood. Therefore, the information gathered not only sheds light on these young people’s narratives regarding the most common reasons they perceive direct and indirect discrimination, but it may also situate their experiences within the broader framework of structural racism.

Authors

• Angie Steffania Rojas Varón, University of Malaga

• Jacqueline Carvalho da Silva, University of Málaga