Undeniably, there has been an advance in the way society today regards children and adolescents: not anymore as inferior people deprived of their own will, but as subjects of rights. This perspective derives from a significant change in Brazilian legislation, which now ensures full protective treatment to this segment of the population. One issue, however, remains to be considered and solved, which is the non-applicability, in the form of the law, of protective and socioeducative measures to juvenile offenders and are under the State guardianship. Adolescents in such situation have usually been submitted to a range of disciplinary measures which are incompatible with provisions of the Statute on the Child and the Adolescent (Law no. 8069/90) and the legal international framework which Brazil endorses, since they are often subjected to physical and psychological violence and, as a rule, are found in inadequate spaces for the fulfillment of the internment measure, which in turn reinforces a punitive rather than socioeducative practice upon them. This kind of practice reproduces current cultural values in our society, according to which juvenile offenders should be parted (deprived) from social interaction and punished for their actions. Thus, they are given scarcely any chance for elaborating and reflecting on their own past behavior in such a way that might bring about a life change. Why are Human Rights not being respected? Why does the State itself, which is so intently concerned with spreading this discussion throughout society, fails to make sure that constitutional rights be enforced as guiding principles regarding children and adolescents under governmental institutions? In regard to Human Rights there is, hence, a gap between discourse and practice which must be critically considered: does the institution of Human Rights serve as a bridge, a connection? Or does it generate barriers in effecting the rights of adolescents in conflict with the Law? The antagonisms, however, have diminished in the last 20 years, since the promulgation of the Statute on the Child and the Adolescent. Many Brazilian States have been making efforts to change punitive perspectives and reviewing their old-fashioned, rights-violating practices, formulating new thoughts and practices which fill us with hope. This is the focus of this text.