Poster #174 - Life Projects of Young Offenders at Treatment Facilities in Brazil

• In Event: 2-110 - Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Section - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Integrative Statement

Life project is a future orientation variable defined as the integrated set of teleonomic goals oriented by a sense of action through which the goals can be operated (Coscioni, Damásio, & Teixeira, in press). It is an important self-regulation aspect for future-oriented behaviors, the reason why it is considered by Brazilian law as one of the most important goals for the interventions in treatment facilities for young offenders (Brazil, 2006). This multiple case study presents the life projects of young offenders at treatment facilities in two Brazilian states: Espírito Santo and Rio Grande do Sul. Twenty-five male young offenders aged between 15 and 19 years old were distributed in four focus groups and the content was transcribed and treated by thematic analysis (Braun & Clark, 2006). The data analysis process generated three themes and 11 subthemes, which are briefly described in Table 1. The relations between the themes and the subthemes were analyzed in order to propose assertions which could explain data in a contextual framework (Stake, 2006). For that purpose, the contents of the focus groups were triangulated with the contents of field diaries recorded by the research team (Coscioni, 2017). This process generated four assertions, which are briefly described in Table 2. The young offenders entitled as “world of crime” the context of complex interpersonal relationships which recognize robbery and drug trafficking as careers. They associated the entrance to the world of crime as a consequence of resources deprivation and unemployment. According to the participants’ perspective, the world of crime not only offered resources but also a status in their neighborhoods, which was a way to achieve sexual and affective relations, drugs, and fun. As a consequence of that, the life projects of participants frequently included the permanence in the world of crime. However, the young offenders highlighted that the permanence in the world of crime also could generate negative consequences, as premature death, new incarcerations, and family suffering. Because of that, some participants revealed the intention of leaving the world of crime. Although, they agreed it was very difficult since the opportunities in the job market were scarce. The participants described an alternative future, which included goals related to education, work, and family. Those goals were not associated with strategies by which they could be put in practice. In contrast, they were described as dreams which hardly ever could become real. Therefore, it is concluded that participants did not have life projects involving education, family, and work goals, as a life project includes also a sense of action which was absent in their narratives. They either had life projects for the permanence in the world of crime, or aspirations for education, work, and family. This outcomes suggests that the life projects of young offenders are influenced by contextual factors that limits them to elaborate life projects unrelated to the world of crime. The treatment facilities should provide opportunities through which young offenders could operate their goals related to education, work, and family.

Authors

• Vinicius Coscioni, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS
  Presenting Author

• Edinete Maria Rosa, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo - UFES
  Non-Presenting Author

• Silvia Koller, UFRGS
  Non-Presenting Author