Talleres de expresión en contextos de privación de libertad

Extensión universitaria desde un abordaje no directivo junto a jóvenes en Salta

Abstract

This paper systematizes the experience of the university extension project “Workshops of expression with papers and fabrics together with young people and adolescents” of the Faculty of Humanities of the National University of Salta, developed in the Center of Attention to Young People in conflict with the criminal law (CAJ), a device of deprivation of liberty for male adolescents aged 15 to 17 years. Since 2017, the project employs a non-directive methodology that allows a space for autonomous, collaborative and cooperative expression where the interests and experiences of young people are at the center of the learning process.
In the workshops, the occupation of space-time and the manipulation of materials such as papers, fabrics and colors facilitates young people to explore and build personal and social meanings, addressing issues related to their experiences, their criminal processes, their family ties, their neighborhood belongings, their expectations for the future, among others. 
The systematization of this extension experience allows highlighting the potential of this methodology, as well as the tensions generated in its application in contexts of greater institutional control. Non-directive practices encounter obstacles in the disciplinary structures of the CAJ, which poses challenges to build a free and creative learning space.

This reflection reaffirms the role of outreach as a tool that enables the production of situated knowledge as well as its importance in the construction of meaningful learning spaces, and its potential to build bridges between the university, its members and young people in contexts of deprivation of liberty.