The application of socio-educational measures in Brazil is a result of the emergence of the Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA). Before that, several milestones were set, however, violence and violation of rights against adolescents still occurs. The study aimed to understand the socio-historical panorama regarding the achievements and the current challenges, in the integral attention and guarantee of rights of adolescents in conflict with the law. The methodology employed in this research was based on a qualitative approach and on bibliographic and documental research in SciELO, Redalyc, and Google Scholar platforms, and in Brazilian government websites, primers, and documents, using the descriptors: socio-educational measures, adolescents, violence, and public policies. The data were analyzed from the perspective of content analysis and the theoretical and methodological framework of historical and dialectical materialism. The results obtained point to the socioeconomic issue and the lack of access to public policies experienced by adolescents, who are vulnerable and exposed to the act of crime in order to obtain goods and resources - poverty being one of the main factors. Although several changes have occurred throughout history in the attention and guarantee of rights for adolescents under socio-educational measures, several conflicts and challenges permeate the present time. Furthermore, it was possible to observe the importance of continuing academic studies on this theme, so that the socio-educational system and the entire network of comprehensive protection of adolescents' rights may be expanded and in fact perform all the necessary duties to guarantee the rights of this population.