Social exclusion and juvenile delinquency have got much attention in the media and in academic discussions. The idea of exclusion includes many forms of segregation and discrimination, which results into difficult obstacles to overcome. This paper aims at drawing the vulnerabilities of the delinquent and his family, as well as some relations between them and the delinquent act. Semi-structured interviews outlined the family environment of 61 male delinquents, that practiced severe violations and that were imprisoned in institutions of Rio de Janeiro and Recife, in 1997. The research data showed the fragility of the families of most of the subjects, who live in such condition of poverty and exclusion, that they are isolated from any social support. The youths and their families undergo the emotional and financial consequences of parents' splitting: absence of the father deprives them of the adequate model of social identity; absence of the mother, due to work or to home abandonment, makes impossible the proper supervision of education and the care of the children. The vulnerabilities of the family are also made up from a complicated history of diseases and violence.
juvenile delinquency; family relations; social exclusion; family vulnerability
