Chapter 8: Adolescents in Brazil: Developmental Possibilities between Risk and Protection

Traditionally, adolescence has been addressed in the usual sense of the word and by health and education professionals as a mere “preparation for adult life,” reflecting a view of the world that considers the adult as a parameter of perfection or the apex of human existence. According to this representation, strongly present in Western and industrialized societies, the adolescent must study and develop in order to “become a citizen in the future.” In other words, his integration in the adult society (socialization) depends on socializing agencies, which will give him spaces for the training of roles that he will perform in the future. The adolescent occupies a social place of passage from the family’s private universe, of dependence in relation to parental figures, to the public space occupied by adults, without being given the opportunities to legitimate social insertion and participation.