Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

When We Get Out, It's a Matter of Survival

Stal, Georgina LU (2012) MIDM71 20121
LUMID International Master programme in applied International Development and Management
Abstract
This investigation is an exploratory case study examining the challenges that juvenile offenders in El Salvador face in integrating into their communities after a significant period of confinement. Given the repressive trend to crime prevention in the Central American context, labeling theory was used as a lens to examine how stigmatization challenges youth’s integration. Moreover, the theories of differential association and social learning highlight how incarceration increases likelihood of failed integration through its effect on peer association. The investigation relied primarily on previous research and ethnographic methods including participant observation in a Salvadoran Juvenile confinement center and interviews with professionals... (More)
This investigation is an exploratory case study examining the challenges that juvenile offenders in El Salvador face in integrating into their communities after a significant period of confinement. Given the repressive trend to crime prevention in the Central American context, labeling theory was used as a lens to examine how stigmatization challenges youth’s integration. Moreover, the theories of differential association and social learning highlight how incarceration increases likelihood of failed integration through its effect on peer association. The investigation relied primarily on previous research and ethnographic methods including participant observation in a Salvadoran Juvenile confinement center and interviews with professionals and youth. Results indicated that the stigmatization of Salvadoran youth limits opportunities available for the integration of juvenile offenders both within institutions and their communities, and drives youth’s rejection of conventional society. Moreover youth’s incarceration drives differential association with delinquent peers and the social learning consequences thereof. Thus, repression of criminal behavior in the form of stigmatization and policies such as incarceration seem to contribute to youth’s failure to integrate and inadvertently fuel insecurity and the continuous cycle of violence characteristic of El Salvador and the Northern Triangle at-large. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Stal, Georgina LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
The Challenges of Integrating Juvenile Offenders in El Salvador
course
MIDM71 20121
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
El Salvador, Youth, Crime, Integration, Stigma, Delinquent Peers
language
English
id
2543744
date added to LUP
2012-07-02 15:35:03
date last changed
2012-07-03 08:31:04
@misc{2543744,
  abstract     = {{This investigation is an exploratory case study examining the challenges that juvenile offenders in El Salvador face in integrating into their communities after a significant period of confinement. Given the repressive trend to crime prevention in the Central American context, labeling theory was used as a lens to examine how stigmatization challenges youth’s integration. Moreover, the theories of differential association and social learning highlight how incarceration increases likelihood of failed integration through its effect on peer association. The investigation relied primarily on previous research and ethnographic methods including participant observation in a Salvadoran Juvenile confinement center and interviews with professionals and youth. Results indicated that the stigmatization of Salvadoran youth limits opportunities available for the integration of juvenile offenders both within institutions and their communities, and drives youth’s rejection of conventional society. Moreover youth’s incarceration drives differential association with delinquent peers and the social learning consequences thereof. Thus, repression of criminal behavior in the form of stigmatization and policies such as incarceration seem to contribute to youth’s failure to integrate and inadvertently fuel insecurity and the continuous cycle of violence characteristic of El Salvador and the Northern Triangle at-large.}},
  author       = {{Stal, Georgina}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{When We Get Out, It's a Matter of Survival}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}