IN THE CAGE OF PUNITIVISM: FEMALE RELATIVES OF PRISONERS ON THE SCENE

Abstract

Punitiveness in Brazil has been around since the colonization period, with processes that adapt to the times but not to human suffering. Poor, black and peripheral people feel it first, faced with a challenging scenario in which a penal state is promoted to the detriment of the social. Brazil is becoming one of the countries with the largest prison population, which demands public policies for both inmates and their families. The methodology involved qualitative research with the participation of 11 female family members of inmates or ex-prisoners, who participate in a movement called “Front for Decarcerationa” in the city of Manaus. The study sought to consider how punitiveness spreads beyond the walls of the prison system to also affect the families of prisoners, especially women who are mothers, wives and sisters. The results showed that prison also punishes women with psychological suffering, in addition to the human rights violations that affect them during visits to the system and pursues them throughout their daily lives.