Marked Lives

the Indirect Stigma Produced by Electronic Monitoring on the Children of Monitored Individuals

Abstract

The electronic monitoring was implemented in Brazil through Law No. 12,258/2010 as a possible alternative to prison overcrowding. However, data reveal that the measure has not contributed to decarceration, as the number of monitored individuals has increased proportionally to the number of incarcerated persons. Far from being an alternative to imprisonment, electronic monitoring has become a new form of penal control, exacerbating symbolic violence, particularly through social stigmatization. In this context, the present study proposes as its research problem the analysis of electronic monitoring as a penal technology capable of producing indirect stigmas on the children of monitored individuals, especially those of school age. The central objective is to understand how this stigma manifests in social interactions and how, in this scenario, the penal sanction transcends the convicted person and negatively impacts their family members. Based on the analysis of indirect testimonies, it was found that the children of monitored individuals experience discrimination in the school environment and are prematurely associated with criminality. This is, therefore, a socially vulnerable group, whose experiences reveal a violation of the principle of non-transcendence of punishment, as enshrined in the Brazilian Federal Constitution. It is concluded that the electronic ankle bracelet, due to its visibility and symbolic weight, contributes to the reproduction of stigmas that affect not only those directly subjected to the measure but also those around them. To achieve these results, the study employed the hypothetical-deductive method.