Teoria do etiquetamento social, criminalização e estigmatização de jovens periféricos

Abstract

The Labeling Approach Theory induced a revolution in Criminology by shifting the research object from traditional liberal Criminology to a new proposal for criminological investigation, as well as the change from the etiological paradigm to that of social reaction, starting to observe the reflexes of social control exercised by the State on the alleged criminal. In this study, we aim to analyze the Labeling Approach Theory and its scope in examining the stigmatization of young people from the ghetto, based on the criminalization processes of these subjects. The methodology used favored a qualitative approach, characterized as a descriptive-analytical study. As technical procedures, we used bibliographic research, comparing seminal authors of theory at the Chicago School with authors of contemporary criminological works. We also performed an examination of secondary data obtained from the analysis of the following documents: Atlas of Violence of the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA, 2019, 2020), Public Security Yearbook of the Brazilian Public Security Forum (FBSP, 2020), National Survey of Prison Information (Infopen, 2020). We also carried out an analysis of emblematic cases of police violence perpetrated against youth in the ghettoes, reported by the press and with significant media and social repercussion. The results show the relevance of the Labeling Approach Theory for understanding the criminalization and stigmatization processes of young people from the periphery in Brazil. Among other issues, we highlight the stigmatization and criminalization of these young people who are, as a rule, the targets of arbitrary and violent approaches by the police. We conclude that despite the proclamation of the criminal law of the fact as an equal right for all, the Brazilian criminal justice system continues to operate with a criminal law of the type of author, where criminal stereotype and labeling are mainly associated with a stigmatized ghetto youth.