The coexistence between juvenile offenders at a treatment facility

The objective of this research is to characterize the coexistence among adolescents in a juvenile detention facility from their perspective. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten adolescents between 16 and 18 years of age in a social-educational unit in Porto Alegre. The data generated in the interviews were organized based on thematic analysis from an emic perspective, that is, generating native categories according to the perception of the participants. The adolescents revealed that criminal factions were the starting point for the establishment of friendly or rivalry relationships. They also described a set of norms that configured a collective pact in favor of an institutional order. Friendly relationships were described, indicating trust and safety as a facilitator of the moment of deprivation of liberty. There were also reports of consensual sexual relations as a result of the long period of detention. The results mainly indicate a hostile interpersonal climate that promotes psychological suffering and aggravates the situation of vulnerability. Furthermore, the coexistence of idle adolescents without the proper pedagogical following favors the perpetuation of values and interests related to involvement in criminal behaviors.