Between coldness, calculation and "crazy life": violence and suffering in an adolescent's trajectory while complying with a social-educational measure

O conceito de sofrimento social caracteriza-se pela compreensão das situações de aflição e dor como experiências sociais e não como problemas individuais. Este trabalho analisa a natureza social e política do sofrimento de um adolescente em cumprimento de medida socioeducativa. Inspirado na abordagem de Veena Das, o artigo se apóia em "carne" e discurso para problematizar a relação entre cidadania e segmentos juvenis discriminados, que se manifesta nas ambiguidades das práticas institucionais presentes no fluxo de execução de medidas socioeducativas. O artigo analisa as contradições entre o objetivo institucional de evitar a reincidência de atos infracionais, auxiliando o adolescente a tornar-se um cidadão autônomo, e as narrativas e expressões corporais dos adolescentes durante o cumprimento das medidas. A trajetória aqui descrita leva ao reconhecimento de que o trânsito da medida de internação para as medidas em meio aberto se dá sob a tensão entre o discurso institucional de reorganizar a vida escolar, familiar e comunitária e a experiência cotidiana dos adolescentes, que segue marcada pela constante ameaça policial e pela privação de acessos a bens públicos. O cumprimento de medidas socioeducativas acaba por reforçar entre os adolescentes a aflição de serem socialmente tidos como suspeitos e fugitivos e, consequentemente, a incorporação de um lugar social particular, o de membro do "mundo do crime". O desempenho na vida cotidiana de um "estilo bandido" revela formas de resposta ao discurso dominante no sistema socioeducativo, contexto que indica o paradoxo do Estado brasileiro, que garante uma democracia formal enquanto viola direitos civis.The concept of social suffering is marked by the understanding of affliction and pain situations as social experiences, rather than psychological or medical individual problems. This paper analyses the social and political nature of an adolescent's suffering while he is complying with a social-educational measure. Based on Veena Das' approach, the paper relies on "body" and speech in order to raise the issue of the relation between citizenship and discriminated youth segments that is manifested in the ambiguities of the institutional practices that are present in the execution flow of social-educational measures. The article analyses the contradictions between the institutional aim of avoiding the recidivism of infraction acts, helping the adolescent become an autonomous citizen, and the adolescents' narratives and body expressions while complying with the measure. The ethnographical experience described here leads to the examination of ambiguities present in the transit from freedom privation to open environment measures. This transit occurs under tensions between the institutional discourse of re-organizing the community, family and school life and the adolescents' daily experience, which continues to be marked by constant police threat and privation of access to public property. Complying with social-educational measures seems to reinforce among adolescents the affliction of being socially seen as suspects and runaways, as well as the incorporation of a particular social place: member of "the world of crime". The performance in daily life of a "criminal lifestyle" reveals ways of answering to the dominant discourse in the socio-educational system; a context that indicates the paradox of the Brazilian State, which guarantees a formal democracy while violates civil rights

Suspeito empreendedor de si: trajeto e sofrimento de um adolescente durante intervenção socioeducativa

Este trabalho analisa a natureza social e política do sofrimento de um jovem em cumprimento de medida socioeducativa. Partindo de uma perspectiva foucaultiana do poder, o artigo considera a experiência subjetiva do jovem em sua interação com o sistema socioeducativo; observa as manifestações do poder na ação de uns sobre os outros, no agir reiterado em torno de saberes e poderes que delineiam os modos de ação sobre o campo de ação do jovem. A análise da experiência subjetiva de um adolescente durante o cumprimento de medida socioeducativa revela o modo pelo qual a intervenção pode situá-lo no limite das possibilidades de integração, intensificando as aflições de uma vida sob constante suspeição. A abordagem adotada permite observar de que modo o jovem elabora significados sobre o sistema socioeducativo e como expressa por meio de palavras, gestos e movimentos as contradições desta política pública. A posição do jovem como alguém que deve explorar individualmente os riscos, as perdas e as benesses das suas escolhas constitui uma zona de confluência entre o discurso socioeducativo e o do crime. Simultaneamente, um aparato governamental difuso e um modelo de gestão do comércio de drogas acompanham o jovem no trajeto de cumprimento de medida socioeducativa, cada qual dos sistemas com suas próprias estratégias e esquemas de gestão da sua vida.This study examines the social and political nature of the suffering of a young person subjected to “socio-educational measure”. From a Foucaultian perspective of power, the article considers the subjective experience of the young individual in his interaction with the socio-educational system, and observes how power is manifested in the acts of some over others, in the reiterated deeds revolving around knowledge and authority that delineate the ways of action of the youngster within his own field of action. The analysis of the subjective experience of the teenager subjected to a socio-educational measure shows how that intervention can place him at the limits of the possibility for integration, intensifying the sufferings of a life under constant suspicion. The adopted approach allows us to observe how this young person produces meanings about the socio-educational system and how he expresses through words, gestures and movements the contradictions of the public policy. The position of the teenager as someone who should individually explore the risks, the losses and the gains of his own choices defines an area of ​​confluence between the socio-educational speech and that of crime. Simultaneously, a diffuse government apparatus and a management model of the drugs trade compete in the path of the youngster subjected to socio-educational measure, each of the systems having its own strategies and management schemes for his life

Entre a frieza, o cálculo e a "vida loka": violência e sofrimento no trajeto de um adolescente em cumprimento de medida socioeducativa

The concept of social suffering is marked by the understanding of affliction and pain situations as social experiences, rather than psychological or medical individual problems. This paper analyses the social and political nature of an adolescent's suffering while he is complying with a social-educational measure. Based on Veena Das' approach, the paper relies on "body" and speech in order to raise the issue of the relation between citizenship and discriminated youth segments that is manifested in the ambiguities of the institutional practices that are present in the execution flow of social-educational measures. The article analyses the contradictions between the institutional aim of avoiding the recidivism of infraction acts, helping the adolescent become an autonomous citizen, and the adolescents' narratives and body expressions while complying with the measure. The ethnographical experience described here leads to the examination of ambiguities present in the transit from freedom privation to open environment measures. This transit occurs under tensions between the institutional discourse of re-organizing the community, family and school life and the adolescents' daily experience, which continues to be marked by constant police threat and privation of access to public property. Complying with social-educational measures seems to reinforce among adolescents the affliction of being socially seen as suspects and runaways, as well as the incorporation of a particular social place: member of "the world of crime". The performance in daily life of a "criminal lifestyle" reveals ways of answering to the dominant discourse in the socio-educational system; a context that indicates the paradox of the Brazilian State, which guarantees a formal democracy while violates civil rights.O conceito de sofrimento social caracteriza-se pela compreensão das situações de aflição e dor como experiências sociais e não como problemas individuais. Este trabalho analisa a natureza social e política do sofrimento de um adolescente em cumprimento de medida socioeducativa. Inspirado na abordagem de Veena Das, o artigo se apóia em "carne" e discurso para problematizar a relação entre cidadania e segmentos juvenis discriminados, que se manifesta nas ambiguidades das práticas institucionais presentes no fluxo de execução de medidas socioeducativas. O artigo analisa as contradições entre o objetivo institucional de evitar a reincidência de atos infracionais, auxiliando o adolescente a tornar-se um cidadão autônomo, e as narrativas e expressões corporais dos adolescentes durante o cumprimento das medidas. A trajetória aqui descrita leva ao reconhecimento de que o trânsito da medida de internação para as medidas em meio aberto se dá sob a tensão entre o discurso institucional de reorganizar a vida escolar, familiar e comunitária e a experiência cotidiana dos adolescentes, que segue marcada pela constante ameaça policial e pela privação de acessos a bens públicos. O cumprimento de medidas socioeducativas acaba por reforçar entre os adolescentes a aflição de serem socialmente tidos como suspeitos e fugitivos e, consequentemente, a incorporação de um lugar social particular, o de membro do "mundo do crime". O desempenho na vida cotidiana de um "estilo bandido" revela formas de resposta ao discurso dominante no sistema socioeducativo, contexto que indica o paradoxo do Estado brasileiro, que garante uma democracia formal enquanto viola direitos civis

Saberes da encruzilhada: militância, pesquisa e política no sistema socioeducativo

O artigo discute a experiência de construção do conhecimento em uma etnografia realizada no contexto institucional voltado para jovens capturados pelas malhas da justiça criminal, o sistema socioeducativo, na cidade de São Paulo. A partir da constituição de um grupo de pesquisa formado por pesquisadores e técnicos responsáveis pelo acompanhamento dos jovens, busca-se analisar o estatuto desses saberes elaborados coletivamente, além de prospectar os nexos que articulam militância, pesquisa e política. São analisadas as linhas de força que conectam os participantes e as complexas relações estabelecidas na busca de um ponto intersticial de construção do conhecimento. A posição de entrecruzamento ocupada pelo grupo de pesquisa evidencia um campo político, constituído por uma miríade de instâncias de controle, cujo coração é o conflito. A construção do conhecimento por pesquisadores e agentes institucionais, que ocupam distintas posições no campo socioeducativo, oferece a possibilidade de produzir saberes que são o produto, mas ao mesmo tempo produtores, de espaços de luta e que, como tais, são mobilizados como instrumentos de batalha por operadores do Estado.The article discusses the construction of knowledge in an ethnographic experience focused on the socio-educational system for youngsters under criminal justice institutions in the city of São Paulo. The constitution of a research group composed of researchers and professionals allowed for collective knowledge creation and leads to questioning the articulation between militancy, research and politics. The main lines connecting the participants and the complex relationships established in the search for an interstitial point of observation of the socio-educational system are analyzed. The intersectional position of the research group reveals a political field, formed by a myriad of instances of control with conflict at its core. The collective construction of knowledge by researchers and institutional agents, differently positioned in the system, effects and is effected by spaces of contention that are mobilized by State agents as struggling resources

A vulnerabilidade e a mente : conflitos simbólicos entre o diagnóstico institucional e a perspectiva de jovens em cumprimento de medida socioeducativa

Over the last two decades, the use of the term vulnerability has been expanded to several knowledge and intervention fields. This article examines the use of the idea of vulnerability in the socio-educational system as a component of power relations between institutions performing educational measures and adolescents. Based on ethnographic research conducted in the metropolitan area of São Paulo in 2009, 2010 and 2011, with the participation of fourteen teenagers serving social-educational measures, the paper analyzes the conflict between the psychological report of a young man and his own interpretation when talking about the same aspects of his life. The article discusses how the adolescent, who is differently intricated by distinct codes, experiences a reality shock which has escaped socio-educational system practices in their own existence. The meeting of the idea of vulnerability in the psychological report with the perspective of the mind as an attribute of a young man, creates a field of symbolic disputes between visions of the individual’s capacity for self-regulation.Nas últimas duas décadas a utilização do termo vulnerabilidade foi expandida para diferentes campos de conhecimento e de intervenção. Neste artigo analisamos o uso da noção de vulnerabilidade no âmbito do sistema socioeducativo como um componente das relações de poder entre instituições de execução de medidas socioeducativas e jovens atendidos. Baseado em pesquisa etnográfica realizada na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo em 2009, 2010 e 2011, com a participação de 14 adolescentes em cumprimento de medidas socioeducativas, o texto analisa o conflito entre o relatório psicológico de um jovem e sua própria interpretação ao falar sobre os mesmos aspectos de sua vida. Discute também como o jovem, intrincado diferentemente por códigos distintos, enseja em sua própria existência conflitos simbólicos que têm escapado às práticas do sistema socioeducativo. O encontro da ideia de vulnerabilidade no relatório psicológico com a perspectiva da mente como atributo de um jovem configura-se um campo de disputas simbólicas entre visões da capacidade de autorregulação do indivíduo

Integrating youth mental health into cash transfer programmes in response to the COVID-19 crisis in low-income and middle-income countries

Social protection measures can play an important part in securing livelihoods and in mitigating short-term and longterm economic, social, and mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, cash transfer programmes are currently being adapted or expanded in various low-income and middle-income countries to support individuals and families during the pandemic. We argue that the current crisis offers an opportunity for these programmes to focus on susceptible young people (aged 15–24 years), including those with mental health conditions. Young people living in poverty and with mental health problems are at particular risk of experiencing adverse health, wellbeing, and employment outcomes with long-term consequences. They are also at risk of developing mental health conditions during this pandemic. To support this population, cash transfer programmes should not only address urgent needs around food security and survival but expand their focus to address longer-term mental health impacts of pandemics and economic crises. Such an approach could help support young people’s future life chances and break the vicious cycle between mental illness and poverty that spirals many young people into both socioeconomic and mental health disadvantage

Examining the dynamics between young people’s mental health, poverty and life chances in six low- and middle-income countries: protocol for the CHANCES-6 study

PURPOSE: Poverty and poor mental health are closely related and may need to be addressed together to improve the life chances of young people. There is currently little evidence about the impact of poverty-reduction interventions, such as cash transfer programmes, on improved youth mental health and life chances. The aim of the study (CHANCES-6) is to understand the impact and mechanisms of such programmes. METHODS: CHANCES-6 will employ a combination of quantitative, qualitative and economic analyses. Secondary analyses of longitudinal datasets will be conducted in six low- and middle-income countries (Brazil, Colombia, Liberia, Malawi, Mexico and South Africa) to examine the impact of cash transfer programmes on mental health, and the mechanisms leading to improved life chances for young people living in poverty. Qualitative interviews and focus groups (conducted among a subset of three countries) will explore the views and experiences of young people, families and professionals with regard to poverty, mental health, life chances, and cash transfer programmes. Decision-analytic modelling will examine the potential economic case and return-on-investment from programmes. We will involve stakeholders and young people to increase the relevance of findings to national policies and practice. RESULTS: Knowledge will be generated on the potential role of cash transfer programmes in breaking the cycle between poor mental health and poverty for young people, to improve their life chances. CONCLUSION: CHANCES-6 seeks to inform decisions regarding the future design and the merits of investing in poverty-reduction interventions alongside investments into the mental health of young people