Laboy Perez, Suset
(2014)
MINOR PROBLEMS: JUVENILE DELINQUENTS AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF A PUERTO RICAN SUBJECT, 1880-1938.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
MINOR PROBLEMS: JUVENILE DELINQUENTS AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF A PUERTO RICAN SUBJECT, FROM 1880-1938
Suset Laboy Pérez, PhD
University of Pittsburgh, 2014
This dissertation focuses on the creation of a juvenile delinquent subject in Puerto Rico, studying why concerns about children and youth transgressions emerged and evolved in the island after the mid 19th century. Furthermore, it analyzes the creation and evolution of new state institutions to prosecute, contain, and reform delinquent youth between 1880 and 1938. It also traces the experiences of the children and the families targeted by these institutions. The dissertation answers the following questions: 1) How was juvenile delinquency conceived and defined, and by whom? 2) What practices, policies and institutions were developed to deal with juvenile delinquents? 3) How did “juvenile delinquents,” their families, and those targeted by the new institutions experience these measures?
By focusing on a diverse set of actors, from policymakers to the children and families who they targeted and by paying attention to both the colonial and global contexts, this dissertation makes several contributions to the scholarship on Americanization, Latin American legal history, the history of childhood in the region, and of the limits of colonial relationships. It reveals how the development of juvenile justice systems contributed to notions of nation and citizenship in Latin America and the Caribbean. This dissertation suggests that the comprehensive study of juvenile delinquency is essential to understand the construction of national subjects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Children and youth were essential subjects in the process of creating ideal citizens that would contribute to national progress. Finally, the dissertation builds on recent scholarship about the Puerto Rican colonial experience to demonstrate how local actors and initiatives shaped key areas of life in the island.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
| Title | Member | Email Address | Pitt Username | ORCID |
|---|
| Committee Chair | de la Fuente, Alejandro | | | | | Committee Member | Putnam, Lara | | | | | Committee Member | Sanabria, Harry | | | | | Committee Member | Drescher, Seymour | | | |
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| Date: |
24 September 2014 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
24 January 2014 |
| Approval Date: |
24 September 2014 |
| Submission Date: |
13 August 2014 |
| Access Restriction: |
2 year -- Restrict access to University of Pittsburgh for a period of 2 years. |
| Number of Pages: |
228 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > History |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Puerto Rico, Juvenile Delinquency, Imperialism, Americanization, Colonialism, Juvenile Courts |
| Date Deposited: |
24 Sep 2014 13:35 |
| Last Modified: |
15 Nov 2016 14:19 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/21316 |
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