Abstract

VIZCAINO GUTIERREZ, Milcíades. The Criminal Role: A reflection from the young offenders' viewpoint. Rev. Crim. [online]. 2008, vol.50, n.2, pp.15-29. ISSN 1794-3108.

This paper is the result of two questions: whether young offenders exist, on the one hand; where do they come from? who makes them? are they the ones who decide to be so, from their own free will?; on the other hand, once they become offenders: can their learning process of being offenders be reversed?. The author's answer is based on the concept which states that such young children are a subproduct of society caused by structural misfunctioning, a fact that if not deeply attacked, would consolidate a favorable environs for them to become young and adult offenders. When institutions fail in socializing and controlling, a social gap is covered by substitute elements. If the young child's environs is characterized by breaking rules, it is then considered as a competitor of the role assigned to those institutions thus replacing the roles assigned to the latter. As a result, such environs would replace the roles assigned and fill the social gap found. Once the role of the offender is learnt, an ex-role social process that may be considered responsibility of the institutions is required. Such argument goes beyond the mere individual view and emphasizes on a social and cultural perspective, which would likely be the answer to the problems posed.

Keywords : offender identification; young offender; Penal Code; public institutions; criminality.

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