Abstract

FRAGA, Paulo; RODRIGUES, Luzania  and  MARTINS, Rogéria. Juvenile Justice, Drugs and Sentence: Minor as Political Category. Estud. sociol [online]. 2021, vol.39, n.115, pp.109-138.  Epub Sep 06, 2021. ISSN 2448-6442.  https://doi.org/10.24201/es.2021v39n115.1804.

The aim of this article is to analyze the judicial processes related to drug trafficking in Petrolina-PE (2011-2014), according to the Theory of Sentencing. The social content of the legal and extralegal variables were considered, analyzing the cumulative effect of these determinants on the sentence. The most common judicial rulings were procedural extinction and acquittal. Socio-educational measures such as warnings, freedom and semi-freedom were more common than imprisonment. However, there were disparities in sentences in analogous cases and accusations of analagous sentences in different cases. The authors conclude that the penal system produces social inequality, and that punishment is perceived and used as a technique for the control and transformation of poor adolescents arrested with small amounts of drugs.

Keywords : drugs; adolescents; justice; Brazil.