Branding the delinquent: stigmatization, punishment and law enforcement

Abstract

This text shows how the use of penal punishment in Mexico disproportionately affects a specific sector of society: young males from marginal sectors. It also analyzes the relationship between this use of penal punishment and the non compliance of the law, and considers that by stigmatizing and marginalizing offenders (or alleged offenders) from a specific social group, criminal punishment tends to generate new conditions for non compliance. Lastly, the paper notes that the present use of criminal punishment is related to negative perceptions of the penal justice system.