Explorando os limites da liberdade: a percepção dos adolescentes em medida socioeducativa de internação

Abstract

This study reveals a critical situation in the socio-educational system as a measure to educate and prevent infractions, focusing on the perception of male adolescents and young people, serving socio-educational internment measures (socio-educands) about freedom. This perception is useful for rethinking guidelines, processes, methods, practices, and techniques within the socio-educational process. The research was driven by the question: how does the perception of freedom among socio-educands influence or potentially influence their compliance with the confinement measure and their reintegration into family and community life? The general objective was to understand the meaning of freedom within socio-education and the possibilities of improving this process. The specific objectives included characterizing the perception of freedom in its individual, social, and contextual dimensions; identifying the impacts of temporary deprivation of freedom; recognizing discourses, beliefs, values, desires, and wills in the socio-educands' perception of freedom within the socio-educational environment; and defining the importance of understanding this perception for the pedagogical effectiveness of the measure. The research followed a phenomenological and empirical approach, with data obtained through semi-structured interviews with socio-educands from Uberaba, MG. The interpretative reading of the data employed the technique of meaning units (naive narrative; attitude identification; interpretation). The results reveal a complex scenario regarding the perception of freedom during the time of socio-educational confinement. The meaning units revealed that the socio-educands' perception of freedom unfolds in a duality: it is projected based on day-to-day variables (institutional restrictions on internal conduct) and in relation to future life projects. The family emerges as a central reference, whether in reflections on absence from everyday events or as inspiration for life changes associated with the sense of a normal life, including the roles of father, mother, spouse, and children. Education and work are also associated with the perception of freedom, forming part of the socio-educands' life projects after leaving the institution. In the daily life within the institution, the perception is that there is no freedom, due to restrictive and severe conduct norms. The lack of freedom is also perceived in the communication between socio-educands and the staff, who, according to them, are uninterested in hearing their demands or suggestions for improvement. This study, therefore, positions itself as a vehicle for listening to and voicing these adolescents and young people, highlighting a gap between the socio-educational system's propositions and its effective practice. It is noted that the educational aspect of the process has not fulfilled its role of leading adolescents and young people to reflect on themselves and their actions, so that they become aware of what freedom is, its value, and its consequences.