Special Issue 2025 of Apprendre + Agir
Hama Thieni
Abstract
In this article, we will look at the trajectories of young delinquents as well as their first prison experiences based on the discourses of incarcerated minors at the Ouagadougou Prison (MACO) in Burkina Faso. The article opts for a qualitative method relying on data from life stories, interviews with institutional and non-institutional actors and observations made in the juvenile section of the Maison d’arrêt et de correction de Ouagadougou. The results show that the socialization and criminalization pathways of incarcerated minors. These pathways are certainly diverse, but play a role in exemplifying the educational challenges of young learners both in prison and outside of prison.
Keywords: prison experiences, social reintegration, incarcerated minors, social problems, trajectories of confinement
Introduction
The juvenile section of the Maison d’arrêt et de correction de Ouagadougou (MACO) seems to be a strategic place to grasp the social problems faced by Burkinabe teenagers. Also, this place seems to be in the spotlight of the prison administration, prison stakeholders and the media, insofar as this prison wing regularly benefits from visits from these various actors. Little research has been devoted to the situation of children incarcerated in Burkina Faso. With the exception of the work of Fourchard (1999), Oubda (2019), Champy (2022), and Thieni (2025), other works have only alluded to the issues of incarcerated children through an analysis of the management of social illegality at the Ouagadougou Korbéogo Prison (2014). Studies such as those of Hochet (1967), Ramdé et al. (2015), and Touré (2021) generally focus on the structural and cyclical causes of the fall into delinquency of young people and adolescents in Burkina Faso, as well as its corollary of imprisonment, stigmatization, and marginalization. However, these aspects have not yet been explored from the margins, such as prison. Yet, this type of analysis is essential to understand in detail the issues and challenges of managing incarcerated minors’ delinquency. In other words, the social, educational, and criminological issues related to juvenile delinquency among incarcerated minors are not sufficiently documented. What are the causes or reasons that lead to the incarceration of minors? What are the trajectories of confinement that lead minors to prisons and what can we say about their social reintegration? These questions, in our humble opinion, have not been answered enough in the specific case of Burkina Faso.
In this article, we intend to reconstruct, through the discourses of incarcerated minors, the social problems, delinquent trajectories, and educational issues within Burkinabe society which are at the root of the imprisonment of minors at the MACO.
Incarcerated minors are aged between 13 and 18 years old. Scientific work, such as Shahar (1990) and Ariès (1960), shows that the stages of life, far from being natural realities, are socially constructed through norms and representations that are deeply rooted in specific cultural contexts. Although these ages reflect undeniable physiological transformations, ranging from birth to death, categories such as childhood and youth, encompassing adolescence, remain marked by persistent ambiguity (Champy, 2022). Adolescence, in particular, has not always been perceived as a distinct and autonomous category. According to Ariès (1960: 56), the evolution of social thought and institutions has been slow and complex: “Even if a vocabulary of early childhood appears and expands, the ambiguity remains between childhood and adolescence, on the one hand, and this category that was called youth. We didn’t have the idea of what we call adolescence, and this idea will take a long time to form.”1 This process of evolution of social conceptions of childhood has led to the modern definition of age thresholds, including that of 18 years, marking the transition to adulthood. This choice, although now widely accepted, has not always been the norm. Champy (2022: 14) points out that previously, in the decades preceding the 1960s, many countries defined the transition to adulthood around the age of 20 to 25, with a gradual revision that only took place from the late 1960s, a period during which the civil majority was set at 18 in most of Western countries. Consequently, the age of 18 as the threshold between childhood and adulthood is part of a socially and historically constructed logic, largely in line with expectations in terms of learning and schooling.
At the same time, the age of criminal responsibility is also a social construction, strongly influenced by the legal orders of contemporary societies. In Burkina Faso, according to Law 15/2014 on children in conflict with the law or in danger, a minor is defined as any person who has committed an offence after the age of 13. Article 9 of this law stipulates that: “The age of criminal responsibility is set at thirteen years. The age of criminal majority is set at eighteen years of age. This age is assessed on the day on which the acts were committed.”2 In addition, the same law specifies that a child breaks the law when he or she is suspected, accused, or convicted of a misdemeanor or felony. In Burkina Faso, this legal categorization finds its concrete expression in the prisons and correctional facilities which house minors held in pre-trial detention, before or after formal accusations, and those who are found guilty and sentenced to time in detention. According to the Ministry of Justice’s statistical yearbook (2020), the country has 27 prisons, each with a section dedicated to minors. According to the data in the booklet on minors in conflict with the law or in danger (2021), between 1 January and 31 December 2020, the prisons and correctional centres received 485 minors, including 23 girls. In addition, the statistical yearbook maintains that incarcerated minors in 2020 are mainly aged between 15 and 17. In terms of the flow of the juvenile prison population, MACO’s has historically been one of the highest among the country’s prisons. The statistical yearbook (2020) highlights that minor population in MACO fluctuated between 99 minors in 2016, 54 in 2017, 32 in 2018, 27 in 2019 and 51 in 2020. Yet, the available data lacks disaggregation by sex, which limits the possibility of a differentiated analysis of the situation of girls and boys. In addition, the lack of indicators concerning, for example, the percentage of children detained without separation from adults, or those who received visits from their parents or guardians, is an obstacle to a full understanding of the conditions of detention of minors. In this study, the term “minor detainee” means a child who has been incarcerated for a minimum of one month and who is between 13 and 18 years old, within MACO. These minors are housed in specially designated “juvenile wards,” in contrast to the children and infants who reside in the women’s wards, alongside their mothers.
The use of the concept of “social problem” in this paper requires clarification. It should be noted that there is no consensus on the neutrality of the concept of social problem, especially since the mere use of this term to describe a situation amounts to considering it as involving pathological or problematic behaviour. However, for Gusfield (2012), the concept of social problem allows us to shape our understanding of the social world and imagine actions to change it. For this author:
The concept of social problem as such is itself part of the process it describes. “Child abuse,” “child development” and “children’s rights”: it is not a neutral action to say that the first category concerns a “social problem,” the second, a biological process and the third, a legal issue. Each of these words has implications and consequences. (Gusfield, 2012:113-132)
The examples provided by Gusfield, which can easily generate confusion, demonstrate the relevance of the concept of social problem in qualifying certain phenomena. Indeed, during the study discussed in this article, we identified social problems that were recurring in the discourse of minors. This allowed us to make a link between the “outside” and the “inside,” in other words, between Burkinabe society and the incarceration of minors in prison. Durkheim, in The Rules of the Sociological Method (1937), associated social facts with significant things, events, and phenomena taking the form of ways of acting, thinking, or feeling that are external to human beings and that impose themselves upon them. Thus, social facts have both objective and subjective dimensions. As a result, the social problems we deal with are perceived to a certain extent as social facts. Regarding the appearance of a social problem in the public space, Valette states that “In this context, social problems in the public space arise from a series of facts that end up allowing its construction and formalization. For it to exist as such, the problem must be recognized, legitimized, and it should appear as solvable by collective intervention” (Valette, 2016: 4). Our investigation in the juvenile section allowed us to note a series of topical themes and persistent phenomena. These include the proliferation of criminogenic places, the early sexual activity of adolescents, the recidivism or return to prison of minors, groups of delinquent peers, the problem of “mobile money,” the multiplication of acts of burglary, the phenomenon of street children and illegalism, as well as descriptions of formal and informal confinement trajectories. The objectives of this article are to analyze the trajectories of young delinquents before their incarceration, to study their experiences and perceptions of imprisonment, and to highlight the educational challenges in prison and Burkinabe society in general.
Methodology
Our study on the life trajectories of incarcerated minors took place in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. This city is home to the largest prison in the country, the Maison d’arrêt et de correction de Ouagadougou (MACO). The facilities are located close to Bangr-Weoogo Urban Park. It houses adult inmates (men and women) and minors. At the time of the study, the MACO consisted of five buildings: the large building or “boat,”3 the annex building, the amendment quarter, the women’s quarters and the juvenile quarters. These detention buildings allow us to separate the prison population according to sex and age, but they do not take into account juridical status, thus bringing together those convicted, those formally accused, and those simply suspected of crimes. The juvenile section is on the margins of the other detention buildings. Incarcerated minors are between 13 and 18 years old.
Our work started after we obtained special access authorization, with media coverage, issued by the Ministry of Justice of Burkina Faso. A qualitative approach was chosen in this research, as it allows us to understand the coping strategies of incarcerated minors, not only through their speeches, but also through the analysis of the interactions they have with other actors in the prison environment. Our choice to rely on a qualitative approach was based on three essential motivations:
- Exploring the social dynamics of the prison environment: The aim is to understand how minors adapt to prison and how they mobilize various resources to improve their detention conditions.
- Analyzing interactions and justifications: A qualitative method allows us to examine the relationships between minors and other detainees, as well as their interactions with members of the administration and external stakeholders.
- Understanding the meaning of prison experiences: Rather than quantifying phenomena, the aim here is to highlight the social logic and perceptions of prisoners in the face of confinement.
Our methodological approach focuses on the meanings that individuals attribute to their actions and their situation. We relied on several techniques and tools of the qualitative method like interviews, observations, life story analysis, and focus groups. We have focused on the prison experiences of minors with a particular emphasis on biographical interviews (Bertaux, 2016) in order to apprehend, on the one hand, the realities of our respondents’ social world, on the other hand, the feelings of the minors and their first impression or incarceration at the MACO. Data collection took place from December 2020 to May 2021. To constitute the sample of minors for the research, we took into account the following characteristics: the age of the minors, their juridical status, their level of education, gender, offence committed, family situation, and length of detention. We interviewed 40 people, including 20 incarcerated minors and 20 other actors, both institutional and non-institutional, involved in the care of incarcerated minors. The interviews were conducted in the local languages (Mooré and Fulfuldé) and in French. We used easytranscript, a transcription software.
For ethical issues, we sent a consent form to the parents of the minors with the support of the institution’s social services before meeting the minors. The study’s objectives were explained to the minors before obtaining their consent. Only minors whose parents consented took part in the study.
In addition, the principles of data saturation and triangulation served as a compass in data collection (Olivier De Sardan, 2008). We have constituted a voluntary sample for the target population of twenty minors between 13 and 18 years old. We proceeded in this way by retaining all the minors whose parents consented to the interview. We assigned codes (MIM followed by a number for males and MIMF followed by a number for females) in order to preserve the confidentiality and anonymity. The article is structured around the following axes: the trajectories of young offenders in prison, their secondary sociability, transgressive lines, prison trajectories, prison experiences and socialization in detention, as well as educational challenges in prison and prospects for reintegration.
Results and Discussion
Paths of Young Delinquents: Between Sociability and Transgression
Beyond the fact that the life stories of the people we talked to make it possible to understand their paths and trajectories, they constitute a thermometer of sort that allows us to take the temperature of the society in which they evolved. Our study shows that the factors in juvenile delinquency can be understood by looking at family, social, and economic dynamics, but also at the influence of peers and secondary social networks. The exploration of the secondary sociability of minors of the MACO was done through interviews with them, talking specifically about the social relationships they had with their families, the transgressive or non-transgressive sociability networks they belonged in, the existence of opposition in these sociability networks, the multiple memberships in peer groups and conflicts of belonging, practices, and occupations within these social networks, their typical day, and their hobbies and activities with friends.
Between Social Influences and Identity Construction
The life stories of the minors reveal the complexity of individual trajectories and the multiple factors that influence fall into delinquency. The secondary line of sociability refers to all the social relationships and influences that occur outside the immediate family setting. It includes interactions with peers, in schools, on the street, in institutions of social control (police, justice, rehabilitation centres), as well as deviant groups to which some minors can identify. These interactions help shape their trajectories, depending on the resources, opportunities, or constraints they generate.
Criminogenic Places
During the interview, certain neighborhoods in Ouagadougou are often mentioned as hotbeds of delinquency: the undeveloped areas, Karpala, the bus station, the Oumarou Kanazoé Mosque, Dapoya, and the ZAD.4 The trajectory of “MIM2” (charged, 16 years old, prosecuted for voluntary homicide, 12 months of incarceration) illustrates the impact of the social environment on delinquency. He testifies:
I was doing mechanical work until this fight story brought me here. I didn’t work on Sundays. That’s why, on Sundays, since there was nothing to do and the bus station was not far from my house, I used to take my bike to go there, chat, and spend the whole day (MIM2).5
In the words of “MIM2,” like those of many other people interviewed, we can see the central role of bus stations as spaces for delinquent socialization. These places, where individuals from various social and ethnic backgrounds meet, are often the scene of theft, fraud, and daily violence, exacerbated by pervasive economic precariousness. Living near these criminogenic areas exposes families to an increased risk of being confronted with deviant behaviour. The influence of the environment on the deviance of incarcerated minors brings us back the pioneering work of urban ecologists Shaw and McKay (1940), which showed that crime thrives in neighborhoods characterized by three key factors: poverty, high residential instability, and high ethnic heterogeneity.
Adolescent Sexuality
The story of “MIM5” illustrates issues surrounding sexuality among some teenagers and the weakening of social taboos surrounding juvenile sexuality. Lack of parental supervision and insufficient sex education are factors that contribute to young people’s exposure to risky behaviours. The testimony of “MIM5” (charged, 17 years old, prosecuted for sexual abuse and incarcerated for eight months at the MACO) highlights the lack of support and the complexity of managing sex life among teenagers. Hence the following words: “My business was good. The girl and I knew each other, she was my girlfriend. That day, I was going out to go to the grain de thé6 when she called me at her house. So, I went. It was her mother who caught us [having sex] in the house” (MIM5). This testimony can be related to a special context in Ouagadougou, where a video of gang rape of a young high school student was broadcast on social networks on the night of February 15 to 16, 2018. This event spurred a wave of indignation in the country.7 Faced with the national upheaval, the Ministry of Women, National Solidarity, and the Family published a statement urging parents to better supervise the moral and sexual education of their children.8 These types of situations, which are becoming more and more frequent, call out to Burkinabe society on the need to insist on sex education among adolescents. On analysis, the dynamics of these acts of sexual deviance could be explained by Cohen and Felson’s (1979) theory of routine activity, which posits that criminality results from the convergence of three elements: an individual motivated to commit an offence, a vulnerable target, and a lack of effective surveillance or social control. Thus, in the Burkinabe context, the weakness of parental control appears to be a determining factor in the exposure of adolescents to sexual deviance and transgressive behaviour.
Return to Prison or Recidivism
One of the challenges of juvenile justice in Burkina Faso is the fact that minors are often detained before being handed over to one’s parents or being placed in a social reintegration centre. This seems to compromise the prospects of the minors’ reinsertion. Moreover, the prevalence of reincarceration calls into question not only the effectiveness of the prison system, but also the responsibility of parents and society in the supervision of at-risk young people. Recidivism is a central problem in the juvenile section of the MACO. The words of “MIM6” (charged, 15 years old, prosecuted for theft and fraud, 14 months in prison) reflect this fact:
I was at the centre of […] [he stayed at the juvenile ward before being placed in a reinsertion centre]. I came for the end of year holidays. You know, the justice system sent me there (first offence). I was supposed to leave after the holidays, but I stayed to help my parents work [he refused to join the centre following a robbery in a nearby village during the holidays and he was later intercepted by the police] (MIM6).
This story highlights the limits of the social reintegration system for minors. According to the data collected from the MACO social service, “MIM6” did not continue his schooling and, as far as social services are concerned, this minor simply ran away from the centre where he was appointed. The story of MIM6 allows us to question the mechanisms for monitoring and supporting minors placed in social reintegration centres. On analysis, it appears that incarceration before the placement of children in social and professional reintegration centres could be the cause of the failure of social reintegration and the rehabilitation of minors. Indeed, many children return to prison for various reasons. Moreover, institutional actors told us that some children living on the streets voluntarily choose to return to prison. According to the commission of so-called minor offences, during the (rainy) winter season, these minors have only one goal: to benefit from room and board in prison.
School and the Influence of Peer Groups
The testimonies collected show that many young people in prison have experienced a chaotic school experience, marked by repeated failures, exclusions, and gradual dropouts. Thus, school, which is supposed to contribute to emancipation, becomes a space of stigmatization where these minors accumulate feelings of incompetence and social exclusion. Difficulties within the school environment are often accompanied by a shift towards informal activities, which compensate for this institutional marginalization. Some minors turn to petty trafficking or street activities, where they find recognition that the school did not offer. This transition reflects a process of institutional disengagement, which reinforces their vulnerability to criminogenic influences. In terms of the role of peer groups in delinquent involvement, the testimony of “MIM8” (accused, 17 years old, prosecuted for theft and rape, incarcerated for fourteen months) shows us:
When I arrived in the city of […], I didn’t sleep on the street. But looking at my classmates and me, it wasn’t the same thing. I didn’t fight, but I saw others fighting. Some carried knives, but I never did. I also saw children who injured themselves while playing (street fights), and others who frequented the maquis [drinking establishments]. I didn’t go there (MIM8).
However, his words are contradicted by another minor from the same group to which he belongs (“MIM3”), who claims that “MIM8” was in fact the leader of a violent group, involved in the street and frequenting bars and drinking establishments. The negative influence of peer groups is in line with the analysis of Glowacz and Born (2017), who consider that the peer group is a repetition of the adult world, where adolescents learn to manage social interactions. However, in the case of minors in prison, this socialization seems to encourage the internalization of deviant norms, especially in a context where the ineffectiveness of regulating places of leisure (maquis, drinking establishments) facilitates transgressive behaviour. Thus, one of the most recurrent factors in the trajectories of young people in prison is the influence of peer groups, which constitute an essential instance of secondary socialization. The friendships and social networks in which these minors evolve can facilitate the transmission of norms and values that contradict those advocated by the dominant society. In many cases, minors develop a membership in informal groups, which offer them a form of social recognition and protection. These groups sometimes operate on the logic of solidarity but can also incite delinquency by normalizing certain deviant behaviours. Participation in these networks influences their perception of the world, their relationship with the law, and their management of conflicts. Thus, a young person from an environment marked by exclusion or economic insecurity may find in these groups a form of social status, an identity, and a sense of belonging that reinforces illegal practices. Repeated exposure to these deviant models promotes a process of learning about transgressions, where young people gradually assimilate risky behaviours (theft, violence, drug trafficking, etc.).
This phenomenon can be analyzed through Edwin Sutherland’s theory of differential learning, according to which delinquency is acquired through interaction with peers who value and justify such practice. The secondary socialization trajectory of incarcerated minors reveals that their fall into deviance took place unexpectedly, including for themselves. Indeed, each of them initially carried out a legitimate activity, recognized as such by those around them. It would then be tempting to consider that these young people have engaged in acts perceived as harmless, without fully measuring the seriousness of these acts, probably because of their immaturity or naivety. The etiology of these deviant behaviours is based on a combination of heterogeneous factors, integrating rational, mimetic, and coercive dimensions. However, beyond individual motivations, several structural elements appear to be decisive in explaining these trajectories: the lack of follow-up and family supervision, the influence of peer groups, the lack of sex education, and the frequentation of so-called criminogenic environments. These are all parameters that shape and promote the fall into deviance of minors detained at the MACO.
Transgressive Lines and Processes of Marginalization
Transgressive lines refer to the first offences committed by adolescents. We spoke with the minors about the causes of their offences, their introduction to delinquent activities, the duration of their stay in the delinquent environment, the nature of their offences, the mechanisms of acquisition and transmission of delinquent techniques, and the territories of transgression in which adolescents operate. These transgressive lines are characterized by experiences of transgression and delinquent acts, but also by a break from social institutions (school, family, etc.).
Illegality Linked to “Mobile Money”
“Mobile money” is a form of transaction of funds relying on telephone networks. Customers of these companies can make deposits and withdrawals with their phone numbers. For the past ten years, there has been a craze for “mobile money,” in particular in kiosks and transaction shops in the villages and cities of Burkina Faso. Many people, given the lack of employment, have invested in “mobile money” shops. This activity, despite the fact that it brings significant income to the people who engage in it, is also infiltrated by scammers9 who regularly deceive people through increasingly implausible procedures. The owners of “mobile money” shops, as well as teenagers, are no exception to the sophisticated manipulations and scams of those who are called “grazers.” This is the case of a 17-year-old minor inmate with the assumed name “MIMF1,” who is charged with fraud. She had asked her mother for a sewing machine after her sewing training. As the latter was slow to offer her the machine, she jumped at the opportunity that a supposed benefactor offered her:
I used to learn sewing and I wanted a [sewing] machine. I asked my mom and then she told me OK and she doesn’t pay. The person [scammer] called me that he will help me by going to orange money and telling the man the [manager] to make a deposit of 300,000 FCFA. The one who called me [scammer] told me that if I arrive at “orange money” there they will tell me that the number there doesn’t work, that it doesn’t exist. I also went to tell the young man there [the kiosk manager] he sent [the money] and he asked me for money [after sending money, you have to give the amount of money to the kiosk manager]. I told him how much money? And then the person comes to tell me that they are scammers [the manager has realized that it is an act of fraud]. When the manager called the 120 number of orange money [for verification] and they said that the person [scammer] withdrew the money. That’s why I’m here. (MIMF1)
On analysis, we realize that the respondent was the victim of a scam. The manager of the “mobile money” store filed a complaint against her. While waiting to clarify the situation, she was placed in preventive detention, because she was suspected of complicity with the scammers. This also raises the question of the mechanism for locking up minors before trial or formal accusations. During the exchanges, we noticed that the teenager did not understand why she was apprehended by the police. Moreover, “MIMF1” does not identify with the act of fraud of which she was accused. Thus, following her incarceration at the MACO, the teenager felt not only misunderstood by society, but also stigmatized by other women in the neighborhood. During the interview, she said she was innocent and not responsible for the act she was accused of. This teenage girl’s situation evokes Becker’s double meaning of the “outsider”, when he states:
Social rules define situations and the kinds of behaviour appropriate to them, specifying some actions as “right” and forbidding others as “wrong.” When a rule is enforced, the person who is supposed to have broken it may be seen as a special kind of person, one who cannot be trusted to live by the rules agreed on by the group. He is regarded as an outsider (Becker, 1963: 1).
Depending on his or her relationship to the deviant fact, the label put on the individual by the rest of society is not apprehended and experienced in the same way, either by the deviant or by society. Moreover, “MIMF1” felt during our interview that the others (the society) could not blame her, because they did not experience what she experienced, in particular, the various unfulfilled promises made by her mother regarding the purchase of the sewing machine as well as the fact that she waited for a long time without getting her sewing machine.
In the analysis, we found that other minors are interested in this sector of activity. Indeed, in the juvenile section, the teenagers informed us of the illegal codes related to the remote coding and locking of phones and the transfer of money in the “mobile money” shops. If, already inside the prison, teenagers are aware of illegal procedures related to new information and communication technologies (remote telephone coding, money transfer), it is probably because they have been introduced to these practices by their peers in detention, but this does not exclude the acquisition of these same techniques outside the prison. This situation of familiarity with delinquent practices in the world of new information and communication technologies has convinced us that what we have heard in the neighborhood is only the tip of the iceberg.
Burglary: A Close Relative Victim
The news on banditry acts underline that burglaries and robberies seem to have intensified in the city of Ouagadougou.10 Moreover, we observed that no one is safe from burglars, even the close relatives of the perpetrators of these acts. Indeed, the offender’s proximity to a parent can backfire, especially if the relationship between the offender and his or her loved one soured. But even in such circumstances, the offender will act tactfully by involving other offenders in the commission of the act. This is probably a strategy to cover their tracks in case things go wrong. This is the case of “MIM12,” 17 years old and charged with the theft of mobile phones and a pistol. This teenager tells us about his burglary operation at his uncle’s house:
We took a mobile phone and a gun, there were four simple mobile phones, two smartphones. In fact, there were three of us. Well, I was at my uncle’s house. I was sleeping there at the time and I went back to my mother’s house. Now, we got up to go to my uncle’s house (to steal). […] We put it in our head to take the cell phones there and when we pulled the drawer we saw a weapon and we took the weapon. But when we arrived at my mother’s house, she only saw the gun. My mom asked, I then said that it was the uncle’s weapon. (MIM12)
“MIM12” first lived with his uncle in an apartment in the city of Ouagadougou. Relations between the uncle and nephew deteriorated and “MIM12” was forced to rejoin his mother in another part of the city. Having not accepted the separation from his uncle, the teenager later returned to rob his uncle’s villa in the company of friends. He was reportedly arrested by the security forces following his mother’s denunciation. The phenomenon of burglary seems to be a long-term practice in urban areas. Indeed, according to the statistical yearbook of the Ministry of Security11 (2022: 161-162), armed assaults in the country’s various cities increased from 1048 assaults in 2021 to 3615 in 2022. It is difficult to go a month without learning in the media, press conferences, and press releases, about the arrest of groups of robbers operating in the neighborhoods. Speaking of the central region where Ouagadougou is located, from 2021 to 2022, armed assaults increased from 415 to 2836 attacks. In addition, the number of victims in this region increased from 347 in 2021 to 3005 in 2022. It should be noted that these attacks are linked to robberies and armed robberies in cities and are different from attacks carried out by armed terrorist groups.12
Moreover, with the advent of terrorism, insecurity has not only increased but also spread to the different regions of Burkina Faso (Ouédraogo, 2020). According to our exchanges with incarcerated minors, the trend in the burglar scene is that quite a few minors living on the street are employed by adults as receivers of theft and burglary products. To do this, houses or premises are rented by adults, most of the time in undeveloped areas (informal settlements), but occupied by minors who live there, keeping and taking care of the proceeds of the adults’ acts of theft and burglary, thus making these minors accomplices.
Children Experiencing Homelessness or “Subscribers” to Delinquency
Children living on the streets are a social problem in Burkina Faso. Work by the Ministry of Social Action (2008) showed that the city of Ouagadougou has the majority of children living on the streets in the country. These children, who call themselves “bakoroman” among themselves, use the street as a place to live and search for daily food (Champy, 2022). In the collective imagination, children living on the streets are perceived as young talibés (learners of Koranic schools) who have not gone to regular school or who have dropped out of school. During our investigation, we came across a 17-year-old minor “MIM7,” the alleged perpetrator of burglary of mobile phones. “MIM7” told us about his break-in operation:
I stole from a telecom store. I went to rob and then took 34 Android phones and a computer […]. I was in the second year of high school […], but we didn’t go to class. I grabbed some cell phones and they caught me (laughs). I was with friends (deviant peers) at […]. You know, I like life on the street, I live on the street. (MIM7)
The life of “MIM7” on the street was the image of deviant individuals belonging to organized gangs of teenagers. Indeed, the world of the “bakoroman” (street children) served as a cover for this respondent, when he was sleeping on the street. He belonged to groups of burglars, but in which each member of the gang must organize his or her own robbery operation. In this type of gang, the members are independent enough and professional in theft and burglary. This is why it is tolerated to organize one’s theft operation. If successful, the individual presents the spoils of the theft to others, but if not, he assumes the consequences of his act alone. This way of proceeding protects the other members of the group in case the judicial police officers get their hands on one of the members.
The delinquent trajectories of adolescents indicate a correlation between social problems and the commission of offences. Moreover, once apprehended, adolescents follow trajectories of confinement that are sometimes formal, sometimes informal.
Trajectories of Confinement: The Paths That Lead to Prison
The trajectory of imprisonment of incarcerated minors can be understood through the socio-penal line and the relationship of the minor with the formal and informal actors responsible for enforcing the rules and norms. The socio-penal line is defined by the judicial trajectory of the minor and his or her interaction with the actors of social control, especially the “moral entrepreneurs”. This line highlights the criminal evolution of the young delinquent. In the context of the present study, the socio-penal line was explored with minors relying on the following elements: the relationship between transgression and repression, their relations with the social and judicial authorities (educators, police, justice, “koglweogos”), the vision of the effect and meaning of detention and criticisms of the penal and penitentiary system. Hagberg (2019: 66) points out that “the term “Koglweogo” is from the Mooré language and means Kogle (“to monitor”, “to keep”) and weogo (“bush”). From 2015 onwards, the Koglweogos have experienced a dramatic expansion in response to multiple insecurities. The intervention of the Koglweogos in the penal trajectory of minors is explained by the fact that, in large cities, the populations have confidence in these community security initiatives, which are, moreover, informal. Thus, by handing over offenders and recovering stolen property or repairing damages, Koglweogos have acquired a certain legitimacy in the eyes of the population (we will return to this later in section 2.3.3). The work of Bagayoko and Savadogo (2022) shows that apart from the army, the importance of the police and gendarmerie in Burkinabe internal security is undeniable. Moreover, in addition to the various missions conferred on them by law, the gendarmerie and the police in Burkina Faso are responsible for ascertaining and preparing preliminary investigations for judicial proceedings in the case of offences under the criminal law. This explains the place and role of these institutions in the trajectories of imprisonment of minors.
Incarcerated minors followed penal trajectories that led them to prison. It is then a question of reconstructing the typical diagram of the trajectory of minors who are apprehended by the Koglweogos or the Judicial Police Officers (OPJ). It is with this in mind that we have chosen to expose and analyze the socio-penal trajectories of three minors, “MIM10”, “MIM12”; “MIM13,” in order to illustrate the diversity of the trajectories and factors that underlie their incarceration.
From the Gendarmerie to the MACO
“MIM10” was transferred from the Gendarmerie to the Prosecutor’s Office of Faso after spending six days in police custody, a period exceeding the legal limit prescribed by the Code of Criminal Procedure, which sets the maximum duration of police custody at three days for minors between the ages of sixteen and eighteen. This procedural irregularity raises questions about the respect of the fundamental rights of minors in conflict with the law. “MIM10” (defendant, 17 years old, presumed to be the perpetrator of assault and intentional injury on others, incarcerated for eight months) gives us the following account:
I arrived at the gendarmerie at night. I was then handcuffed and made to sit down, they asked me if I smoke cigarettes, I said no. […] I was handcuffed until the next morning. Six days later, they took me out and told me to wear my clothes. They took me to the courthouse and it was in the evening that they brought us here after the judge listened to me (MIM10).
However, unlike many similar cases, “MIM10” was not subjected to physical abuse or torture. This exception could be explained by the intervention of a significant relational factor: the minor was taken to the Gendarmerie by his older brother, himself a gendarme, which could have influenced the treatment he received.
From the Police to the Courthouse
A minor inmate, identified under the code “MIM12” (charged, 17 years old, with breaking and entering, stealing mobile phones and a firearm, incarcerated for two months), gave us the following account:
When they brought me to the police station, well, we were beaten, and they asked us if we used the weapon; The answer was no. They beat us with the cord, they left us there for two weeks. One morning they took us out and brought us to the courthouse; we exchanged with the Prosecutor of Faso (MIM12).
“MIM12” was initially taken into custody at the police station before being brought before the Prosecutor’s Office of Faso two weeks later. This situation reveals a clear violation of the legal provisions governing the police custody of minors. In addition, “MIM12” reports that he was detained in the company of adults, in contradiction with the fundamental principles of juvenile justice, which impose a strict separation between juvenile detainees and adults in order to prevent any negative influence or exposure to violence. In addition to this irregularity, there is an even more worrying fact: the minor claims to have been subjected to physical abuse during his detention, a practice in total violation of fundamental rights and standards for the protection of children in conflict with the law.
From the Koglweogos to the Gendarmerie
The Koglweogos exemplify a desire to preserve social order, embodying a conservative and rigid parallel justice system, even as social norms are constantly evolving. These groups do not have judicial skills and are not trained to respect human rights (Da Cunha Dupuy, 2019). It is easy to understand why their repressive dynamics, far from favouring the reform and social reintegration of incarcerated minors, tend to reinforce the recidivism and hardening of minors. Their practices testify, to a certain extent, to their mistrust of the penal system. “MIM13” (charged, 14 years old, alleged to have stolen a motorcycle and incarcerated for four months) gives us the following account:
When I turned around, I saw two people following me […]. They grabbed me and put handcuffs on me; they put me in their car. Once in the car, I saw my friend sitting behind. I then understood that it was the koglweogos. They continued with us to their base. We spent five days with the koglweogos; At the Gendarmerie, we did 14 days. It was the fourteenth day that we were brought to the courthouse. Among the koglweogos, we were beaten; even by the gendarmes, we were beaten, but it’s less compared to the koglweogos (MIM13).
If there was a link between the Koglweogos and the judicial police, it would be of an informal nature. Koglweogos hand over minors to the police even if, according to what interviews with the actors in the criminal justice chain have revealed, there are tensions between them. Analysis of the penal trajectories of incarcerated minors highlights a journey marked by the passage through institutions with contrasting statuses: sometimes unofficial and perceived as legitimate, sometimes legal and formal. These trajectories led them from self-defence groups called Koglweogos to the judicial police officers (police and gendarmerie), then from the Prosecutor’s Office of Faso to their reception by prison guards. An examination of these pathways reveals a systematic violation of the legal time limits for police custody applicable to minors, reflecting a structural dysfunction in the judicial treatment of these young people in conflict with the law. Moreover, the criminal dimension of their trajectory is, in itself, a source of suffering and anguish, exacerbating their vulnerability and psychological distress. Faced with these traumatic experiences, many minors develop a deep resentment, even a desire for revenge towards the judicial and security institutions. As their accounts show, their interactions with these structures are often marked by physical and psychological violence carried out in the name of a “moral enterprise” whose action oscillates between social control and repression.
Experiences with the police, the justice system, and the penal system constitute another essential dimension of the secondary line of sociability. For many minors in detention, the first contact with these institutions is often marked by negative experiences, reinforcing a feeling of mistrust and injustice. Arrest, police custody, and court are all stages that change their relationship with authority and sometimes feed a delinquent identity. Some minors develop a hostile perception of these institutions, seeing them not as protective structures, but as mechanisms of repression that contribute to further marginalizing them. Moreover, incarceration itself constitutes a major turning point in the social trajectory of young prisoners. By plunging them into a world where prison codes take precedence over traditional social norms, incarceration promotes the formation of new deviant sociability. Some minors then perceive prison as a rite of passage, an almost inevitable step in their identity construction, which complicates their process of reintegration.
Prison Experiences and Socialization in Detention
First experiences of detention are significant events, the psychological imprint of which can last throughout the person’s life (Albrand, 2012). Through these experiences, it appears that the negative social representations associated with the prison world are not a simple symbolic construction but reflect a tangible reality for the majority of the people interviewed. Indeed, prison is perceived not only as a space of stigmatization, but also as a place of violence and insecurity, particularly at the physical level. This constant exposure to a hostile environment promotes the emergence of various psychological disorders throughout the incarceration process, profoundly affecting the personal and social development of minors. This section proposes to examine first experiences of imprisonment and to analyze their repercussions on the trajectory of young incarcerated people. To this end, we have chosen to expose and study the initial detention paths of four minors imprisoned at the MACO, in order to better understand the impact of incarceration on their identity construction and their relationship with society.
Sadness and Detention
Incarceration is a pivotal stage during which the offender becomes fully aware of his or her new prison reality. This shift towards a repressive world is generally accompanied by a deep feeling of helplessness and sadness. Such an experience was lived by “MIM10.” Although the latter was warned of the particularly trying conditions of detention at the MACO, he could not escape the deterrent impact inherent in the prison world. “MIM10” (17 years old, charged with assault and intentional injury to others, eight months in prison) gives us the following account:
Well, when I was outside and we were talking about the MACO, I thought it wasn’t a game. When I arrived here, I understood that it was not fun, but it’s okay. […] When I arrived at MACO, I was sad. The first day I was downright discouraged, my parents came the next day to visit me; they advised me not to be sad (MIM10).
In prison, it is not uncommon to find people in complex situations of vulnerability, no doubt aggravated by incarceration. Minors are representative of this physical and social vulnerability. This is why Laurencin (2015, p. 5) states that “imprisonment, confinement, and the daily life of prison life represent stressful events, sometimes constituting real psycho-emotional traumas.” Through first experiences in detention, we can see that the various negative representations of prison in Burkinabe society are felt by most minors. Prison as a place of stigmatization (Korbeogo, 2014), violence, and insecurity leads to different types of psychological disorders throughout the incarceration process.
A Moment of Introspection and Reflection
The carelessness generally associated with juvenile delinquency gives way to deep introspection at the time of incarceration. However, beyond these psychological torments, the deterrent effect and disciplinary function sought by confinement do not necessarily materialize. “MIM13” (14 years old, charged with motorcycle theft and incarcerated for four months at the MACO) shares his experience in these terms:
Ha! Thoughts were rushing through my head. You can sit alone, with no one to talk to. The longer you stay there, the more you think, until dark thoughts cross your mind. Prison is also about that: a stranger can arrive, someone you’ve never met outside, and yet, here, you have to deal with him. […] You see, prison can harden a man. You can enter without bad intentions, but the other inmates will end up instilling ideas in you (MIM13).
The testimony of “MIM13” highlights a fundamental paradox of the prison experience. Indeed, prison, far from being a simple place of correction, can also become a space for criminal socialization, encouraging a process of hardening for both minors and adults. Thus, it can be seen that the interventions of the institution’s social service and prison workers to provide psychosocial care (individual interviews, psychological assistance, educational talks) remain insufficient. Therefore, the real impact of detention on the rehabilitation of minors remains questionable.
When Fear and Tears Mingle with Sorrow
The detention experience of “MIM5” poignantly illustrates the fear that characterizes the early stages of juvenile incarceration. This fear is largely explained by the social perceptions of the conditions of detention at the MACO, which are largely marked by violence and danger. “MIM5” (charged, 17 years old, alleged perpetrator of rape and incarcerated for eight months at the MACO), tells us:
I was thinking too much. At night, I couldn’t sleep, I just sat there, just crying. I was crying for no apparent reason. On the first day, fear came over me. I was deeply afraid, because people had told me that at the MACO, there were notorious bandits, criminals capable of beating you, or even killing you. That’s why I got scared and started crying (MIM5).
Thus, prison, as it is perceived in Burkinabe society, would be a place where deterrence through terror is omnipresent. This can be explained by different discourses emanating from delinquents and people gravitating around the institution. Moreover, this situation reinforces the deterrent missions assigned to prison. However, for incarcerated minors, this initial fear, although vivid and immediate, turns out to be a transitory stage. As they become aware of their prison reality, coping strategies (formation of belonging groups, integration of training workshops) begin to emerge, allowing young inmates to navigate this hostile world.
The Shadow of the Victim Haunts the Author’s Sleep
Incarceration modifies the usual dream activity of inmates. Introspection and the desire to change the course of events are undoubtedly at the origin of dreams in some inmates. To this reality is added the lack of sports and cultural activities which increase the feeling of boredom, emptiness, and the temptation to sleep all day. Moreover, Laurencin (2015:8) adds that in incarcerated people, “the body is mistreated: lack of physical activity, poor diet, abuse of tobacco and other psychoactive substances, licit or not, confinement in small spaces, changes in sensory experience (restriction of the field of vision and development of hearing acuity)”. Nightmares during incarceration in the juvenile ward are a reality. The minor inmate “MIM9” (charged, 16 years old, presumed perpetrator of manslaughter, incarcerated for 11 months at the MACO) gives us the following testimony:
“When I arrived at the MACO, I had a lot of dreams. I saw the deceased in my dreams. It is true that I committed the act, but afterwards, I myself feel a deep regret. I regret bitterly, because I should never have committed this act” (MIM9). Experiences of detention of minors reveal deep emotional and psychological states, ranging from discouragement to sadness, regret, tears, fear, and nightmares.
These manifestations, omnipresent in the first stages of their incarceration at the MACO, are part of the realities experienced by most of minors. To face this harsh reality, solidarity arises between former inmates and new arrivals, consolidating a network of mutual support within the prison world. In addition, from the very first visits, some minors also receive counselling from their loved ones, contributing to their resilience in an inhospitable environment. Our findings show that the majority of minors experienced psychological disorders largely related to their social perceptions of the prison environment prior to their incarceration. This leads to adaptation, either primary or secondary (Goffman, 1968). Thus, it is understandable that prisonization begins from the very first moments, with lasting and profoundly striking effects on incarcerated minors.
Education as a Bulwark Against Prisonization
Of the twenty minor respondents at the Ouagadougou Prison, 13 have continued their education while seven have not enrolled at school. Among the 13 respondents who went to school, the lowest level is the second year of elementary education (CE2) and the highest level is the second grade of upper secondary education. Specifically, seven minors have a primary school education level, five minors have a middle school level (low-level secondary education), and a minor has a high school level (upper level of secondary education). This situation, even if it does not take into account the educational realities of all incarcerated minors in Burkinabe prisons, calls for the importance of formal education in prisons. Sustainable social reintegration of minors cannot obliterate standard education programs in prisons. Thus, the programs for the reintegration of incarcerated minors are expected to play a crucial role in their rehabilitation and reintegration into society. Admittedly, there are some vocational training and non-formal education programs at the Ouagadougou Prison. These are carpentry, mechanics, weaving, sewing, and literacy. However, these programs are not systematically accessible to all minors in detention (Thieni, 2025). In reality, these programs encounter many limitations that hinder their effectiveness. The lack of appropriate support structures and effective prevention strategies accentuates this situation, making social reintegration difficult, if not almost impossible, for many minors.
In addition, education and rehabilitation centres, such as the Laye Centre, the Centre for Education and Social Reintegration of Minors in Conflict with the Law (CERMICOL), the Gampela Centre or the Orodara Centre, although functioning, are often poorly equipped and underfunded. As a result, minors are often released without adequate social or professional follow-up, which makes them vulnerable to recidivism. In addition, social stigma, lack of psychological support and economic obstacles make the reintegration of minors particularly complex. The lack of cooperation between judicial institutions, local authorities, and NGOs, further exacerbates these problems. Thus, the main limitation of current reintegration policies lies in the lack of resources and the systematic non-application of alternatives to detention. As such, it is crucial to develop and scale up alternatives to incarceration, especially for young people whose behaviours are mainly a reflection of difficult socio-economic conditions and negative environmental factors. Taking into account the specificities of this vulnerable population, setting up psychological support mechanisms, optimizing and better structuring learning workshops in the juvenile section, and creating formal educational programs in prisons are interesting avenues to explore. We will discuss these in detail in the section “Perspectives and conclusion on the strategies that can have a positive impact on the social reintegration of minors in Burkina Faso”.
Analysis of the Life and Delinquent Trajectories of Incarcerated Minors
The analysis of individual trajectories and social dynamics has brought to light essential elements that underlie the acts of deviance of minors as well as the psychological and social impacts of their incarceration. Through the stories of minors, it has become apparent that juvenile delinquency is not the result of an isolated factor, but of the convergence of multiple social, family, and economic influences. The study found a strong relationship between precarious living conditions and belonging to deviant groups. These elements have often acted as catalysts in the initiation and consolidation of delinquent behaviour, fuelled by a search for identity and recognition in a context marked by poverty and social exclusion.
The delinquent trajectories of incarcerated minors at the MACO follow paths that oscillate between legal and informal structures, ranging from the influence of self-defence groups such as the Kogleweogos, to the intervention of law enforcement agencies such as the police and the gendarmerie. Interestingly, these penal trajectories are often marked by traumatic stages, such as detentions in difficult conditions and problematic criminal proceedings, which reinforce the sense of marginalization and rebellion among young offenders.
Prison, far from playing a deterrent role, seems, for many, to accentuate their process of radicalization and psychological hardening. Indeed, the testimonies collected during the interviews illustrated that minors, far from undergoing a reintegration process, are more subject to forms of adaptation, which could in some cases have a negative impact on their personalities and behaviours. The fear, regret, and remorse expressed by some minors are indications of a painful confrontation with their own delinquent identity, but also signs of their psychological vulnerability in the face of a penal system that does not always seem to be able to meet the specific needs of young prisoners. In addition, solidarity between prisoners, whether new or old, appears to be a coping mechanism in this hostile environment. This solidarity, while offering immediate support, often only aggravates deviant behaviour in the long run, strengthening the bonds between individuals with a common history of marginalization and violence.
Outlook and Conclusion
The reintegration of young detainees is a complex process that requires a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach. Several strategies can be put in place to facilitate this reintegration. Educational strategies include formal or informal educational programs adapted to the needs of minors in detention and they are crucial for their reintegration. Education is instrumental in giving them the necessary tools to rebuild their future, especially by emphasizing school education, which is non-existent for the moment in the juvenile wards as well as in most of the social reintegration centres in which minors are placed. Then, we must work to encourage the autonomy of minors through the implementation of project management workshops, citizenship training, and self-expression activities (sport, art, etc.) that can reduce the risk of recidivism. For psychological support strategies, psychological support before, during, and after detention is essential to enable young people to overcome the trauma of incarceration and to identify resilience mechanisms to be put in place. Thus, the establishment of support groups can be a space for catharsis and reflection for young prisoners, allowing them to express their emotions and regrets while helping them build a new life project. In addition, social and professional integration strategies through post-prison reintegration programs allow, upon release from prison, the maintenance of regular follow-up to help young people readapt to social and professional life. Training and career guidance programs, as well as access to suitable professions, are crucial levers to reduce recidivism. Also, entrepreneurship must be encouraged, because in the absence of formal jobs, it is important that young people leaving prison have offers of training in business management and financing for micro-projects. Such initiatives would help transform prison into a place where young offenders can truly rehabilitate, learn new skills, and prepare to reintegrate society in a positive way.
In conclusion, the study at the Ouagadougou Prison (MACO) made it possible to explore the influence of social problems on the delinquent trajectories of minors, as well as the first experiences of incarceration of minors. In short, we have highlighted the importance of considering the delinquent trajectories of minors from a holistic perspective, taking into account the interplay between social, economic, and psychological factors. The analysis of secondary sociability allows us to understand that delinquent trajectory does not stem from an isolated individual choice but is part of a complex social dynamic, shaped by successive interactions with family, school, institutional and deviant environments. Incarcerated minors often experience trajectories marked by early breaks with their families and exposure to precariousness and socialization that gradually distance them from conventional norms. Peer groups, school failures, and interactions with control institutions contribute to redefine their relationship to society and to themselves, thus influencing their delinquent behaviour. In view of these findings, an in-depth reflection is needed on prevention, support, and social reintegration mechanisms, in order to break the cycles of juvenile delinquency and offer viable alternatives to young people in vulnerable situations. Taking these realities into account is essential to envisage a more effective juvenile justice system, focused on the protection, education, and rehabilitation of minors in conflict with the law.
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Notes
- Like all quotes reproduced in the article, this quote is translated from French by the editors. ↩︎
- National Assembly of Burkina Faso (2014). Law No. 015-2014/AN of 13 May 2014 on the protection of children in conflict with the law or in danger. https://academiedepolice.bf/index.php/telechargement/category/39-femmes-et-mineurs?download=26%3Ala-loi-sur-la-protection-de-l-enfant-au-bf ↩︎
- It is a level detention building. Officials claim that the building was received in 1964. Given the fact that it is the largest detention building, detainees have nicknamed it a “boat.” ↩︎
- “Zone d’activités diverses” : can be translated to “Mixed usage zone“. ↩︎
- This statement, like others that follow, is translated from French by the editors, striving to respect the tone and language varieties of the original. ↩︎
- Editors note: a grain de thé or grins de thé (literally a “grain of tea”) is a small gathering, usually of men, around tea to chat and socialize in informal settings. ↩︎
- See: https://lefaso.net/spip.php?article82011. ↩︎
- See: Burkina Faso: The Ministry of Women condemns a rape scene filmed and broadcast on social networks. https://lefaso.net/spip.php?article81957. ↩︎
- Lankoandé, E. (2022). Mobile money in Burkina Faso: An activity that involves risks, certainly, but benefits the economy. Radars Info Burkina. https://www.radarsburkina.net/index.php/fr/societe/3129-mobile-money-au-burkina-une-activite-qui-comporte-des-risques-certes-mais-profite-a-l-economie ↩︎
- See Burglaries and insecurity: Painful awakenings for the people of Ouagadougou. https://lefaso.net/spip.php?article22426. ↩︎
- The data in this statistical yearbook were collected by the police and the national gendarmerie. ↩︎
- Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been facing terrorist attacks causing numerous losses of human life and massive population displacements. ↩︎
Author
Hama Thieni
Joseph KI-ZERBO University
Research Group on Local Initiatives (GRIL)
thienihama@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0009-0000-8275-5308
Cite this article
Thieni, H. (2025). Pathways, Prison Experiences and Educational Challenges of Incarcerated Minors at the Maison d’arrêt et de correction de Ouagadougou (MACO)/Burkina Faso. Apprendre + Agir, special issue 2025, Learning and Transforming: International Practices and Perspectives on Prison Education. https://icea-apprendreagir.ca/pathways-prison-experiences-and-educational-challenges-of-incarcerated-minors-at-the-maison-darret-et-de-correction-de-ouagadougou-maco-burkina-faso/