Selective imprisonment in Brazil: A story beyond the walls

A story beyond the walls

Abstract

This article discusses the Brazilian prison system and the challenges posed by social inequality that affect the prison population, presenting a concise historical context. The work is situated within the paradoxical context of a country with a Criminal Enforcement Law (LEP) considered modern, but which maintains a selective, segregating, and punitive model of incarceration. The central objective of this study is to analyze the contrast between the humanized ideal of the Criminal Enforcement Law (LEP) and the selective and exclusionary reality of the national prison system. It seeks to substantiate the social injustices perpetrated in prisons, often through the very mechanisms of justice. Furthermore, the article aims to discuss the need for transformation of the prison system, in alignment with the principles of human rights and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The methodology of this study is qualitative and reflective in nature, delineated from a transdisciplinary approach. The narrative construction permeates a theoretical review of the legal, social, and ideological aspects of the prison system, with a dialogue between Law, Social Sciences, Public Health, and Education. The analysis included an examination of the Criminal Enforcement Law and a historical review from the Penal Code of 1830, in addition to a critical interpretation of official data and empirical studies. The results indicate institutional ineffectiveness in Brazilian prisons, operating as the last step in a systematic process of denial of rights that precedes imprisonment. It is demonstrated that overcrowding, low levels of education, and racial selectivity characterize the discrepancy between the norm and reality. However, the study highlights the potential of the Criminal Enforcement Law as an instrument for inducing humanitarian public policies. The analysis in light of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reveals that the effectiveness of the law requires integrated actions in health, education, and work, transforming the prison into a space for citizen reconstruction.