Abstract

ROSA RODRIGUEZ, Paola Iliana de la. Findings on the factors that contribute to recidivism in young offenders. Intersticios sociales [online]. 2022, n.23, pp.237-261.  Epub Apr 04, 2022. ISSN 2007-4964.  https://doi.org/10.55555/is.23.390.

This study was conceived in response to the elevated indices of juvenile offenders and populations held in Juvenile Detention Centers in Mexico. The objective is to identify and analyze the principal causes of the violations of penal laws they committed while also exploring the reoccurrence of their antisocial behaviors. Seeking to elucidate the causes of these behavioral deviations, we present and discuss the characteristics observed in most of these juveniles in light of current theories of criminology. We also applied a survey to determine the kinds of criminal acts committed by the adolescent population confined in the Centro de Internamiento in Hidalgo, Mexico. Survey results contrast to the information obtained from a qualitative, comparative analysis using Ragin’s fuzzy set theory. Main findings show that for these young offenders, family disintegration, distant relations with family members, and experiences of abandonment were the preponderant factors to which they responded by violating the social order. Those conditions contributed to de-structuring their development. We also found that the absence of the offenders’ parents during processes of social reinsertion affects the success of programs, for higher levels of recurrence and recidivism were documented in those cases than in ones characterized by addiction to psychotropic substances, and those of young offenders from families with criminal histories. In conclusion, the lack of cohesion in the nuclear family unit impedes the successful reintegration of these young offenders.

Keywords : young law offenders; jail; recidivism; social reintegration; prison system.

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