MINOR PROBLEMS: JUVENILE DELINQUENTS AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF A PUERTO RICAN SUBJECT, 1880-1938 by Suset L. Laboy Pérez B.A., Yale University, 2002 M.A., University of Wisconsin, 2006 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2014 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH KENNETH P. DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Suset L. Laboy Pérez It was defended on Friday, January 24, 2014 and approved by Dr. Seymour Drescher, Professor, Department of History Dr. Lara Putnam, Professor, Department of History Dr. Harry Sanabria, Professor, Department of Anthropology Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Alejandro de la Fuente, Professor, Department of History ii Copyright © by Suset L. Laboy Pérez 2014 iii MINOR PROBLEMS: JUVENILE DELINQUENTS AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF A PUERTO RICAN SUBJECT, FROM 1880-1938 Suset Laboy Pérez, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2014 This dissertation focuses on the creation of a juvenile delinquent subject in Puerto Rico, studying why concerns about children and youth transgressions emerged and evolved in the island after the mid 19th century. Furthermore, it analyzes the creation and evolution of new state institutions to prosecute, contain, and reform delinquent youth between 1880 and 1938. It also traces the experiences of the children and the families targeted by these institutions. The dissertation answers the following questions: 1) How was juvenile delinquency conceived and defined, and by whom? 2) What practices, policies and institutions were developed to deal with juvenile delinquents? 3) How did “juvenile delinquents,” their families, and those targeted by the new institutions experience these measures? By focusing on a diverse set of actors, from policymakers to the children and families who they targeted and by paying attention to both the colonial and global contexts, this dissertation makes several contributions to the scholarship on Americanization, Latin American legal history, the history of childhood in the region, and of the limits of colonial relationships. It reveals how the development of juvenile justice systems contributed to notions of nation and citizenship in Latin America and the Caribbean. This dissertation suggests that the comprehensive study of juvenile delinquency is essential to understand the construction of national subjects in Latin iv America and the Caribbean. Children and youth were essential subjects in the process of creating ideal citizens that would contribute to national progress. Finally, the dissertation builds on recent scholarship about the Puerto Rican colonial experience to demonstrate how local actors and initiatives shaped key areas of life in the island. v Table of Contents Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................................. viii 1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Childhood, Crime and Nation Making in Puerto Rico ............................................... 3 1.2 This Study’s Approach ........................................................................................................ 10 1.3 Chapter Organization .......................................................................................................... 13 2.0 Chapter 1: Imagining the Puerto Rican Juvenile Delinquent ................................ 21 2.1 Destitute Children and Beneficiencia ........................................................................... 24 2.2 Misery and Vice: The Family as a Crime Incubator ................................................ 27 2.3 The juvenile delinquents come to into focus ............................................................ 40 2.4 Continuities amidst the changes .................................................................................... 53 3.0 Chapter 2: Institutions of containment ......................................................................... 58 3.1 Colonial institutions for boys and girls: Casa de Beneficiencia and Asilos.................................................................................... 62 3.2 The Escuela Correccional: The Vision .......................................................................... 68 4.0 Chapter 3: Correcting the Correctional Facility: The Reality of the Escuela Correccional ....................................................................... 75 4.1 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 105 5.0 Chapter 4: The Juvenile Courts of Puerto Rico ......................................................... 107 5.1 The courts and their treatment of youth during the 19th century ................. 113 5.2 Imagining and creating the Juvenile Courts of Puerto Rico ............................. 132 5.3 Inside the courtrooms ..................................................................................................... 138 6.0 Chapter 5: The U.S. intervention on vi Juvenile Delinquency in Puerto Rico ............................................................................ 152 6.1 Juvenile Delinquency in the United States .............................................................. 156 6.2 The Children’s Bureau concerns regarding Puerto Rico ................................... 168 6.3 Concerns about girls and the juvenile justice system ........................................ 184 6.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 196 7.0 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 198 Appendix ............................................................................................................................................... 208 Select Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 209 vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Growing up in Puerto Rico, amidst arroz con pollo and Spanish dubbed episodes of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, my experience was far removed from that of the children depicted on these pages. Although I share with them the experience of living in a colonial limbo, unlike many of them, from an early age I had the support needed to help me thrive in the environment. For that, I am grateful. As I am to the people who made sure that I had the opportunity to explore the world around me, fostering the curiosity that drove me to pursue academic research. If this work has taught me anything is that not everyone has the fortune to encounter such amazing guides in their paths. On that front, as they say in Puerto Rico, no me puedo quejar. I would also be remiss if I did not acknowledge the many Puerto Rican children who were not (and are still not) as lucky as I was, and whose struggles and realities I hope to have captured well in my work. I am and will remain indebted to many people for the help and guidance in the completion of this dissertation. Working with the members of my committee, Professors Alejandro de la Fuente, Seymour Drescher, Lara Putnam, and Harry Reid always proved a humbling and insightful experience. Through all our interactions inside and outside the classroom, I have learned much about their respective fields of expertise and about dedication to academia more generally. If all the children (and adults) of the world had at least one professor like Lara, Sy, Harry, or Alejandro, in their lifetime the world truly viii would be a better place. I thank Lara Putnam for her seminars and insights on the Caribbean and Latin America, as well as her expert grasp of theory, issues of gender, and the complexities of the family, and for her infectious energy; Seymour Drescher for showing me just how to theorize local, global, and imperial issues in creative, mutually constitutive ways, and for cheering me on with such kindness from beginning to end of this endeavor; Harry Sanabria for his commentary and observations on Caribbean history, and in-depth knowledge of Puerto Rican history, as well as for sharing a passion for our island; I am particularly grateful to my advisor, Professor Alejandro de la Fuente, for his unwavering patience and commitment, thorough and critical readings, and his insights into the process of nation formation, as well as his guidance through the extended, difficult, and ultimately rewarding, process of producing this dissertation. I started my academic work with an incredible mentor and finish it with a friend, with familia. This work would not have been possible without the consistent support, engagement, and intellectual generosity of each and every single member of the committee. Their enthusiasm about embarking with me on this uncharted territory on the history of Puerto Rico, Latin America, and the United States was invaluable in the completion of this project. I could not have finished this project without the generous institutional support I received through my studies. Graduate research grants from the Center for Latin American Studies, and the School of Arts and Science at the University of Pittsburgh funded preliminary research trips that allowed me to confirm the feasibility of this project. Further