O que vale nesta vida é o repente Trajetórias de vida e acontecimentos criminais

Abstract

The concern with public safety somehow defines the way of life and also the social relationships. From medieval walled cities to contemporary gated communities, it is possible to observe different strategies to prevent invasions, goods appropriations or even physical violence. There also is a complete normative setting, which responds to a historical and social time, in order to define what a crime is. In face of an event characterized as criminal there is, at least, two perspectives to be considered, one related to the involvement and reaction of the people directly involved and another one concerning the socio-institutional treatment of such event, both reflecting and revealing power relations. This study assumes that the reaction to the event is a remarkable fact and it brings revealing elements of other past events and for future projections experience both in the individual aspect or in relation to historical and collective elements. It considers, from the autobiographical testimony of people involved in criminal situations, what is collective and what is historical on such experiences. The crime in this study is considered from its institutional judgement and it brings revealing elements of a collective history. Four different people, frequent users of the several Crime Prevention Centers of Uberlândia, were asked to speak about their life histories, to talk about the crime for which they are being penalized and to talk on the institutional treatment related to the same one. The Oral Life History method was the basis for the interviews. Specialized authors on Psycho-criminology and on Critical Psychology were the main theoretical support chosen for the interviews analysis and reflections around the crime, subjectivity, interdisciplinarity and also the role of the psychologist in Law and Public Safety institutions. From such analysis, it is observed that there is a wide path redefinition of some concepts and professional positions regarding the various elements of a crime. Among the professionals, the psychologist, in such field, must assume the political role where he is inserted. It is concluded that interventions in public safety rely on facts, which are not always the most significant events for the involved individuals, and that concentrates almost all of their actions in individual interventions, insufficient to deal with the criminal matters, which are much more complex and involve historical and collective variables that go far beyond to the individuals directly involved on it.