Reflections on public policy directed at young people in conflict with the criminal law, residents of closed institutions in Colombia Reflexiones sobre la política pública dirigida a jóvenes en conflicto con la ley penal, residentes en instituciones cerradas de Colombia

Abstract

The aim of this article is to make a critical analysis of the way in which the current Criminal Responsibility System for adolescents works. From there on, a relation with the way adults traditionally understand, represent and signify children and adolescents in Colombia is posed. We analyze how the construction of the social categories of childhood and adolescence formulated from the adult-centric perspective-, along with the social, economic, cultural and political prejudices and realities of children and adolescents, are factors that converge so that a kind of re-socialization exercise tales place, one that is exclusive, stigmatizing and that contributes very little in the exercise of citizenship. The first part of the present text examines the transit that has taken place in the States that are part of the United Nations after adhering to the International Convention on Children Rights in 1989, with enables a transition from the ‘doctrine of the irregular situation’ to the ‘doctrine of integral protection’. The second part deals with some historical considerations about the penitentiary system, the penalty, the punishment, the risk and danger. Later in the text we pose an approach to the Colombian case, its realities and its shadows. The dynamics of "exclusion by inclusion" is analyzed, which is still present in the attention to those who come into conflict with the criminal law. Finally we present some conclusions based on some referents and theoretical position, as well as on the author's professional and empirical experiences on the subject.