Social inequalities portrayed in the occupational experiences of girls ahead of incarceration in Brazil

ABSTRACT

Literature demonstrates that most girls incarcerated in juvenile justice institutions in Brazil come from socially vulnerable groups that face social inequality and racial and gender discrimination, which results in occupational inequities. This study aims to understand the daily lives of young Brazilian girls ahead of their incarceration based on their occupational experiences and clarify how these occupations express the deep social inequalities that mark their life trajectories. This cross-sectional qualitative exploratory study used oral history as the research method. Twelve young girls incarcerated at a juvenile justice institution in Minas Gerais, Brazil in 2020 were the study participants. The impact of gender and class issues on these young girls’ daily experiences and occupations point toward the oppressions and social inequalities to which they were exposed since childhood. Their life stories were marked by daily violations of their rights, such as the difficulty of accessing and staying in school, exploitation as child labor, the lack of leisure opportunities, exposure to various forms of violence, including sexual violence, and general vulnerability. The concept of occupation, read through the lens of intersectionality, makes it possible to understand the social inequalities that cross the daily lives of vulnerable populations, as well as provoking a critical and activist position in the area in the face of occupational injustices.

KEYWORDS:

• Occupational science
• Gender
• Daily occupations
• Juvenile justice system
• Occupational injustice

Acknowledgments

Carvalho acknowledges that her participation in this work was funded by national funds through the FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. under the Scientific Employment Stimulus - Individual Call (CEEC Individual) -2021.00384.CEECIND/CP1657/CT0022. The authors acknowledge the contribution of a professional proof-reader who offered useful comments and suggestions on this manuscript before submission.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.