Minor narratives: Extrajudicial punishment of youth offenders by police officers in Portugal

Abstract

Based on evidence collected during research in a youth detention centre in the city of Lisbon, the article discusses youth offenders’ narratives of police violence. According to their reports, juvenile suspects are frequently arrested, questioned and, occasionally, subjected to different forms of physical and/or symbolic violence. The article discusses the youths’ narratives, first on their own terms and, second, in view of other authors’ findings, identifying different categories of violence based on the respective objective of the (ab)use of police force. It is suggested that, apart from serving outward ends like investigation, deference and “education”, police violence is closely linked to concepts of citizenship, order and state authority. (Ab)use of force is further discussed as a form of collective punishment of “non-citizens” against a backdrop of performative crime control and governance of uncertainty on the margins of the state.