The study of youth has been gradually conquering space in public agenda and in the scientific field. Permeated by historical contradictions, either in the way the society conceives it, or how the young population realize themselves as subjects, youth consists of a heterogeneous social category, built in accordance with different eras and societies. The aim of this paper is to develop a concept of youth from the rescue of this social construction. Boundaries that delimitate this concept are pointed out, as well paradoxal contexts in which it is inserted, where different faces in which this phenomenon presents itself in society are elucidated, specially from the perspective of present day society, in contrast to reality of rights violation that ravages a large part of brazilian youth.
youth; societies; human rights abuses