VIOLENCE AND PUBLIC POLICIES FOR YOUTH: APPROACHES BETWEEN THE CASES OF MEDELLIN AND CASCAVEL

This paper presents the preliminary data of a research in construction as a doctoral thesis in social sciences developed in the city of Cascavel - PR/Brazil. It focuses on the relations between youth violence, public policies for youth and urban interventions on public space. Considering homicide rates have increased in Brazil, the study analyses the case of Cascavel, highlighting the way in which several material deprivations concentrate on the north region of the city and how they are related to the high violence rates in the region. The territorialization of the violence shows the centrality of the urban question in the fight against violence. In this way, the author advances the hypothesis of public policies for youth in Brazil lack projects that redefine the so-called "troubled neighborhoods" particularly through urban interventions. The study has as reference the experience of the Social Urbanism undertaken in Medellin, Colombia, and compares it to the Youth Center Prof. Jomar Rocha, in Cascavel, Parana, Brazil. The preliminary data, reached through bibliographic research and ethnographic observation, point to the need for public policies that are articulated and in ongoing dialogue with the local community. The supply of urban infrastructure equally stands out as the essential component to reach positive impacts in public actions. The different proposals, when compared, present different results: in Medellin, the violence and school dropout rates decreased significantly, whereas in Cascavel the violence rates showed no change since the creation of the Youth Center.