Perverse presences, ostensible absences:

policies and services in the Brazilian prison device

Abstract

This work aims to describe characteristics that mark prison management in Brazil and its interfaces with some public policies, having as an initial premise that the prison, according to the Brazilian criminal law and international normative arrangements, must be understood and must be articulated to a broader complex of public and social policies. However, this normative understanding unfolds in practices that are characterized by the coexistence of different conceptions of the prison, producing, at the same time, a differential management of prisoners, marked by the creation of privileges and punishments, and the sharing of prison management between state and criminal groups. The text was elaborated from bibliographical researches and visits to prisons in different states in the five regions of the country, in which, in addition to observing the dynamics of management of prison environments, interviews were conducted with state managers, prisoners, and their families.