In short, what's school? The meaning of this institution for young offenders

• Grant number: 09/12704-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2010
• End date: February 28, 2011
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Education - Specific topics in Education
• Principal Investigator: Elenice Maria Cammarosano Onofre
• Grantee: Aline Fávaro Dias
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The practice of infractions by young offenders has been considered a universal phenomenon, and it needs to be understood in a contextualized way and examined without prejudice. Historical analysis of children and adolescents' situation in Brazil shows that this population has just recently been considered and seen as citizens and people of rights. In spite of the legal achievements that reassure the rights for children and adolescents, especially the right to education, it is still possible to perceive that the public actions concerning democratization of school access have been facing difficulties to reach young offenders. In the same direction, studies indicate that school failure and abandonment are a common phenomenon in young offenders' lives, and a significant percentage of these adolescents do not attend to school. Having known this, it is possible to question which factors have acted as facilitators or obstacles for the attendance of adolescents in schools. Researches indicate that some factors might contribute to school evasion among young offenders, such as problems concerning the relation between educators and students; the absence of significant activities for students; stigmatization and exclusion. The present study has as its central objective to analyze the significance that young offenders attribute to their scholar experiences, aiming to identify the aspects which might act as facilitators and obstacles for their school attendance. The participants of this study are four young offenders who currently attend to an assisted freedom program and four young offenders who currently do community services. The data collect will be carried out by means of semi-structured interviews, observation, diary registration and documental analysis. The study will be developed in Programa de Medidas Socioeducativas em Meio Aberto de São Carlos in the state of São Paulo. The data obtained from the collected material will be qualitatively analyzed, based on the existent literature on the proposed topic. (AU)