Criminal experiences of youth: Investigating reasons and sentiments of young offenders

Abstract: Brazil is facing an increase in crime rates in recent years, posing an alarming security problem. As a result, crime prevention has been one of the most promising security policies, since part of the concept of prevention is focused more on the conformation of crime than in criminal actions. In this on-going research the main objective is to map crimes through the analysis of a Facet designed questionnaire based on the narrative of inmates that will investigate young offenders regarding their emotional involvement in criminal activities in crime zones of Recife, Brazil. Participating groups were composed by convicted minors that were selected amongst volunteers from a Correctional Custody Unit population of Recife. The research also aims a more subjective understanding of individuals through an analysis of the sentiments expressed by these young people during their narratives, regarding their lives and to acts offenders who committed. To this end goal of this study is to investigate how aspects of personal or collective feeling are associated with crime and which cultural and social mechanisms are involved in this process. The relevance of the research is to provide a greater understanding about the profile of criminal actions and their offenders, as well as mapping criminal actions in the city of Recife. The goal is to follow the development of studies on crime and risk, performing a contextualization of internal and external problems to this phenomenon. The central idea is to understand the criminal actions as well as those individuals who commit them with the intention of investing in prevention policies in public safety to mitigate the facilitating and attractive conditions of infringing actions and converting crime into an action that involves risk and consequences for potential offenders.

Key Words: Young Offenders, Crime Prevention, Emotional States.