Missed opportunities: contact between adolescent victims of homicide and State institutions

Cad Saude Publica. 2025 Apr 25;41(4):e00120224. doi: 10.1590/0102-311XPT120224. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

In Brazil, homicides have profoundly affected mortality patterns since the 1980s, with significant impacts on the adolescent population. This study aims to describe the contact between adolescent (10 and 19 years old) victims of homicide (2015 to 2020) and public institutions in the Municipality of São Paulo, highlighting programmatic vulnerabilities and missed opportunities for prevention. Using the record linkage methodology, we describe the institutional contact of adolescents with public policies (health, education, social services, justice and public security). Our results indicate that homicide victims were predominantly male (94%) and black (67%), with low levels of education and high school dropout rate (68%), living in a situation of socioeconomic vulnerability. Most had a history of conflict with the law (57%) and, among these, 69.2% served a socio-educational detention measure at Casa Foundation. The main cause of death among adolescents in the period was police activity (55%). By mapping adolescents’ institutional contact, our research identifies missed opportunities for prevention. Intersectoral collaboration could significantly reduce adolescent homicides by emphasizing the need for comprehensive, rights-based approaches to address social vulnerabilities. Despite remarkable social advances, São Paulo, the richest city in Brazil, continues to present marked inequality, evident in the different perspectives of life of its inhabitants.

PMID:40298685 | DOI:10.1590/0102-311XPT120224