Subjects of Law or Subject to Development? Crime and Juvenile Punishment in Chilean Criminal Justice System

Abstract

In this paper, we address the condition that, in Chile, the Adolescent Criminal Responsibility Law gives to the young offender. Based on disciplines such as psychology and neuroscience, this law characterizes the young person as a "developing subject" to support his/her special criminal treatment according to their "vulnerable", "risky" and "transgressive" nature. The statistical analysis shows that the law protects, in its differentiated juridical consideration, a reinforced government regime of the youth risk. This regime seeks to resolve the subjection to the law of young people through the extended and dominant idea of their subjection to development.