Abstract

ZAVALETA, Alfredo; KESSLER, Gabriel; ALVARADO, Arturo  and  ZAVERUCHA, Jorge. A bibliographical essay on the relationships between police forces and the youth in Latin America. Polít. gob [online]. 2016, vol.23, n.1, pp.201-229. ISSN 1665-2037.

The relationships between police and youth have been described so far as a variable that depends on the set of interactions between citizens and police forces. Even though there are not many essays about this issue, the existing ones emphasize the lack of cooperation, the abuse by police forces and, to a lesser degree, the formal cooperation between these social actors (Goubaud, 2009; ISDP, 2010).This review essay analyzes some of the main trends on this topic. We emphasize police legitimacy among youth, youth resistance to police abuse, and the criminalization of youth by police forces and judges. The topic reviewed in this essay describes the relationships between police forces and youth in some cities, particularly in urban neighborhoods and outskirts. Most of these studies agree in the conflictive character of these relationships and warn about their implications for the construction of safe cities and the recognition of young people as rights-bearing subjects (ISDP, 2010; Vanderschueren et al., 2011). This essay is structured around three recurrent topics in the literature: legitimacy, conflictive interaction and police abuse. Most of the studies reviewed are centered on adolescent men; we have almost not found studies that differentiate between genders. Therefore, to understand the variations between men and women and it is part of a pending research agenda.

Keywords : urban violence; youth; police; legitimacy; justice; Latin America.

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