Social Media in Juvenile Delinquency Practices: Uses and Unlawful Acts Recorded in Youth Justice in Portugal
Currently, the strong involvement of young people in social media raises questions about potential multiplier effects on risks and opportunities for delinquent practices. It is not always easy to distinguish a harmless online action, an integral part of the social and relational experimentation typi...
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| Publicado no: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cs, |
|---|---|
| Autor principal: | |
| Formato: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Idioma: | Anglais |
| Publicado em: |
Comunicação e sociedade
2023
|
| Assuntos: | |
| Acesso em linha: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| id |
openedition-oai:revues.org:cs_8403 |
|---|---|
| record_format |
openedition |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
social media young people digital practices delinquency youth justice redes sociais jovens práticas digitais delinquência justiça juvenil |
| spellingShingle |
social media young people digital practices delinquency youth justice redes sociais jovens práticas digitais delinquência justiça juvenil Carvalho, Maria João Leote de Social Media in Juvenile Delinquency Practices: Uses and Unlawful Acts Recorded in Youth Justice in Portugal |
| description |
Currently, the strong involvement of young people in social media raises questions about potential multiplier effects on risks and opportunities for delinquent practices. It is not always easy to distinguish a harmless online action, an integral part of the social and relational experimentation typical of adolescence, from a fact that will constitute an unlawful act subject to judicial intervention. This article seeks to understand and discuss how the use of social media is materialized in the facts, defined as a crime by the criminal law, perpetrated by young people aged between 12 and 16, in the context of youth justice in Portugal. It is based on an exploratory analysis of qualitative information collected in a Family and Children Court from youth justice proceedings concerning 201 young people of both sexes. Just under a third of this population was proven to have been involved in unlawful acts using social media at three levels: planning/ organization, execution and dissemination. Multiple participation in social media is dominant. There is a significant overrepresentation of girls as perpetrators of unlawful acts, especially those involving a high degree of violence, embodying the online-offline continuum. Most of the analysed facts of both sexes have at their epicentre the perception that personal honour has been attacked and requires reparation. From there, it is a short step to violence, which can lead to a reconfiguration and exchange of roles between victim and aggressor, which is not always easy to prove. For both sexes, the relationships established in school dominate the interaction between aggressors-victims. More than the anonymity afforded by the digital, what stands out is the need for affirmation in public and/or semi-private space, and violent action is the catalyst to gain respect through the instant gratification offered by social media in an online-offline continuum embodying the “onlife” (Floridi, 2017) that characterizes the lives of young people today. |
| author |
Carvalho, Maria João Leote de |
| author_facet |
Carvalho, Maria João Leote de |
| author_sort |
Carvalho, Maria João Leote de |
| title |
Social Media in Juvenile Delinquency Practices: Uses and Unlawful Acts Recorded in Youth Justice in Portugal |
| title_short |
Social Media in Juvenile Delinquency Practices: Uses and Unlawful Acts Recorded in Youth Justice in Portugal |
| title_full |
Social Media in Juvenile Delinquency Practices: Uses and Unlawful Acts Recorded in Youth Justice in Portugal |
| title_fullStr |
Social Media in Juvenile Delinquency Practices: Uses and Unlawful Acts Recorded in Youth Justice in Portugal |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Social Media in Juvenile Delinquency Practices: Uses and Unlawful Acts Recorded in Youth Justice in Portugal |
| title_sort |
social media in juvenile delinquency practices: uses and unlawful acts recorded in youth justice in portugal |
| publisher |
Comunicação e sociedade |
| publishDate |
2023 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cs |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/cs/8403 |
| _version_ |
1877292906636640256 |
| spelling |
openedition-oai:revues.org:cs_8403 en https://journals.openedition.org/cs/8403 2023-02-02T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/eyrs https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Social Media in Juvenile Delinquency Practices: Uses and Unlawful Acts Recorded in Youth Justice in Portugal Comunicação e sociedade Centro de estudos de comunicação e sociedade info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2183-3575 info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/1645-2089 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cs Carvalho, Maria João Leote de social media young people digital practices delinquency youth justice redes sociais jovens práticas digitais delinquência justiça juvenil Currently, the strong involvement of young people in social media raises questions about potential multiplier effects on risks and opportunities for delinquent practices. It is not always easy to distinguish a harmless online action, an integral part of the social and relational experimentation typical of adolescence, from a fact that will constitute an unlawful act subject to judicial intervention. This article seeks to understand and discuss how the use of social media is materialized in the facts, defined as a crime by the criminal law, perpetrated by young people aged between 12 and 16, in the context of youth justice in Portugal. It is based on an exploratory analysis of qualitative information collected in a Family and Children Court from youth justice proceedings concerning 201 young people of both sexes. Just under a third of this population was proven to have been involved in unlawful acts using social media at three levels: planning/ organization, execution and dissemination. Multiple participation in social media is dominant. There is a significant overrepresentation of girls as perpetrators of unlawful acts, especially those involving a high degree of violence, embodying the online-offline continuum. Most of the analysed facts of both sexes have at their epicentre the perception that personal honour has been attacked and requires reparation. From there, it is a short step to violence, which can lead to a reconfiguration and exchange of roles between victim and aggressor, which is not always easy to prove. For both sexes, the relationships established in school dominate the interaction between aggressors-victims. More than the anonymity afforded by the digital, what stands out is the need for affirmation in public and/or semi-private space, and violent action is the catalyst to gain respect through the instant gratification offered by social media in an online-offline continuum embodying the “onlife” (Floridi, 2017) that characterizes the lives of young people today. Na atualidade, o forte envolvimento dos jovens em redes sociais suscita o questionamento sobre potenciais efeitos multiplicadores de riscos e oportunidades para práticas de delinquência. Nem sempre é simples distinguir uma ação online inofensiva, parte integrante da experimentação social/relacional típica da adolescência, de um facto que passa a constituir um ilícito passível de intervenção judicial. Este artigo procura conhecer e discutir como o uso de redes sociais se materializa nos factos qualificados pela lei penal como crime praticados por jovens, entre os 12 e os 16 anos, no quadro da justiça juvenil em Portugal. Recorre-se à análise exploratória de informação qualitativa recolhida em Tribunal de Família e Menores, nos processos tutelares educativos de 201 jovens, de ambos os sexos. Pouco mais de terço da população viu provado o envolvimento em ilícitos com recurso a redes sociais, em três níveis diferenciados: planeamento/organização, execução e disseminação. A participação múltipla em redes sociais é dominante. É significativa a sobrerrepresentação das raparigas enquanto autoras de ilícitos, especialmente com elevado grau de violência, num continuum online-offline. A maioria dos factos analisados, de ambos os sexos, tem no epicentro, a perceção de que a honra pessoal foi atingida e requer reparação. Daí ao ato violento é um passo curto, o que pode levar à reconfiguração e troca de papéis entre vítima e agressor, nem sempre fácil de provar. Para ambos os sexos, as relações criadas a partir da escola dominam a interação entre agressores-vítimas. Mais do que o anonimato que o digital pode proporcionar, transparece a necessidade de afirmação no espaço público e/ou semiprivado, constituindo a ação violenta o catalisador para ganhar respeito pela imediata gratificação, que as redes sociais oferecem, num continuum online-offline que dá corpo à “onlife” (Floridi, 2017) que caracteriza a vida dos jovens no presente. |