Penal age in reference press: the central meanings in the coverage of the debate on the reduction of penal majority

Abstract

This paper adopts a discursive perspective to understand the phenomena that involves journalism and public safety. It analyses the meaning cores that have most appeared in the journalistic discourse about the debate on the reduction of the penal age, stimulated, among other factors, by the vote of the PEC 171/1993. The observation was performed during the period from June 1st to July 5th 2015 in the newspapers Folha de S. Paulo, O Globo and O Estado de S. Paulo. The discursive sequences extracted from 60 reports pointed to four cores of meaning: political dispute/bargaining/temporary alliances; failure in the ECA (Legal Statute of Minors)/socio-educational system; violence of “minors” vs. violence practiced against “minors”; and the absence of national data for the debate on the reduction of the age of criminal responsibility.