Institutional dismissal: memory and journey of institutionalized young people

This paper intends to display the outcomes of a research named: Social and collective memory of the children and adolescents’ institutionalization in the city of Vitória da Conquista, Bahia, and its effects on the Foster house (from 1997 to 2015), having as the leading analysis point the life journey of three young people who experienced during the childhood and adolescencethe disruption ofpremature family ties and the institutionalization as a protective measure employed by the State: one of them was seven years old and the other two, nine and thirteen years old, through rebuilding experiences in a language charged with symbols, images and representations regarding themselves and others. Their experiences entail particular matters and by all means, they comply with the social memory of other children and adolescents who have been institutionalized. We have taken as theoretical background the studies concerning the individual and collective memory designed by the French sociologist Maurice Halbwachs.