Between compassion and repression: state agents governing vulnerable youth in Brazil

Sara Leon Spesny and Vagner dos Santos

Chapter 11 in Research Handbook on Youth Criminology, 2025, pp 181-196 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter examines state agents’ acts of compassion and repression in governing vulnerable youth in Brazil. The Brazilian case is presented as a reflection of impulses in managing vulnerable youth, combining the authors’ professional experiences and analysis of government reports, academic literature and legal frameworks. The chapter provides insights into broader issues of gender, race and class affecting state-sponsored justice and the moral economies shaping state agents’ perceptions of youth deserving of care or control. It analyses the historical evolution of juvenile justice in Brazil, emphasizing the recent advances in legislative frameworks, notably the Statute of Children and Adolescents (ECA). Moving beyond the tension between protective measures and punitive approaches, the chapter reveals how state agents navigate these conflicting paradigms in their daily interactions with youth. Using examples from the health and security sectors, it demonstrates how state agents’ decisions are influenced by both their institutional contexts and individual moral judgements. The benevolent repression in community health services against protective control mechanisms in policing illustrates the complex interplay of compassion and repression in state governance.

Keywords: Brazil; Health; Justice-involved youth; Moral economy; Police; State agents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035300747
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