Fate of Teenagers After Being Inserted in the Protection and Social Reintegration Center

This study focuses on the population referred to as “delinquent” after their placement in social reintegration and protection centres. It questions their post-placement conditions, the obstacles they encounter, and the role of society in supporting their transition to social life. Our inquiry seeks to determine: what has become of these girls and boys after leaving the reintegration centre? How do they approach life once the care period ends? And how do they experience this transitional phase?

What is their situation regarding the three transitions that mark the passage from adolescence to autonomous adulthood? Have they returned to their families and immediate surroundings? How do their familial, personal, and social relationships contribute to reintegration into social life? Have they married (types of relationships)? Have they found employment (financial self-sufficiency)? What individual efforts have these young people made to protect themselves against the risk of recidivism or failure and to secure their futures? In other words, what have they done to take responsibility for their lives after placement? Which factors were useful to them once they returned to society, and what obstacles did they face during this reintegration trajectory? Do they feel the same as before placement? Which elements were beneficial during their time in the centre?

What is their capacity to reintegrate into society and navigate its norms? Is the reintegration process easier for boys than for girls? Considering, on the one hand, that socialisation processes differ for girls and boys, and on the other hand, society’s judgment, which is particularly unforgiving toward girls once they leave the home. Girls are more prone to stigmatisation than boys, and their rehabilitation by family and society remains more challenging.

The issue, therefore, is to understand how these institutions equip young girls and boys to face life outside the centre: the material and legal conditions provided by public policies to help them reintegrate into society, and the appropriate actions taken by these institutions to ensure their successful return to social life.

Thus, the question of the fate of these adolescents after placement raises the issue of defining the educational value of placement and highlights the “deficit” of support in the absence of post-placement follow-up and accompaniment by protection institutions once they reach the age of majority. These centres—places of punishment, education, institutionalisation, and transition—have real meaning only if they provide socialisation experiences and resources that allow young people to reconnect with social life once their placement ends.

Visible gaps appear to hinder the educational work of reintegration and social inclusion for these adolescents when post-placement care is lacking. According to Algerian law governing child and adolescent protection institutions, support for young people placed in social reintegration centres continues until the age of 18, the age of civil majority. However, there is an institutional deficit in educational follow-up after placement, and insufficient coordination between care and protection centres and employment agencies. This deficiency calls into question the effectiveness of prevention and the successful reintegration of these girls and boys into society after leaving the centres.

We can assume that these young people feel inadequately equipped to face the responsibilities of life after leaving the centre. The surrounding conditions are not favourable. These visible gaps in the public social policy system obstruct their progress. The lack of post-placement follow-up makes reintegration more difficult, compounded by personal vulnerability; some are estranged from their families, have dropped out of school, lack professional qualifications, and even when they undergo training, it often does not lead to certification, as they leave the centre before completing it (through absconding or parental release). Society stigmatizes them as “offenders,” which places a heavy burden on them. These girls and boys are assumed to be at risk of failure, which destabilises them, leading to feelings of rejection, personal discredit, low self-esteem, and even resentment towards society.

It is within this context that the research problem is framed, as a continuation of our master’s and doctoral studies, both focused on delinquent adolescents of all genders placed in reintegration centres by juvenile court order for delinquency, moral danger, or at parental request.