Mortality among former youth offenders

The objective of this article is to analyze the detention of youth offenders involved in the juvenile justice system in the State of Rio Grande do Sul (FASE-RS), the reason for detention, and mortality among former young offenders. We conducted an observational study with youth offenders discharged from facilities run by FASE-RS in Porto Alegre between 2002 and 2012 (n = 8,290). We collected the following information: date of discharge, offence committed, skin color, gender, and duration of detention. The data was crosschecked with data from the state's Mortality Information System to identify deaths among former young offenders up to December 2014. The predominant offences were crimes against property and drug-related crimes. The large majority of youth detained for drug-related offences were admitted for offences related to drug trafficking. There was a seven-fold increase in drug-related offences over the period. Death was associated (p<0.001) with being male and number of reentries (>3). The sample's mortality rate was high and the main cause of death was homicide. The findings suggest that young offenders face high levels of psychosocial vulnerability. There was an association between minor crimes and high rates of mortality among former young offenders.