O circuito de comércio do sistema prisional brasileiro

Abstract

The work deals with nuances of the functioning of the contemporary Brazilian prison system, notably related to the circuits of commerce that make up the prison. Economic transactions in the intramural environment are analyzed from a theoretical framework that includes the perspectives of Zelizer (1997, 2001, 2011), Wacquant (2003, 2008, 2011, 2017), Skarbek (2011, 2014), among other authors. This, along with the nuances that are part of the growing incarceration of people, commonly associated with economic rationalities and perspectives of social control. The functioning of trade circuits is therefore addressed from recruitment and extortions inside prisons, detailing the hierarchical arrangements, participating actors, economic actions, as well as the different forms of exchange, sale, payment and types of products that generate profits in the prison environment. The research is based on a literature review, the use of interview techniques and with the support of parethnographic observations on key actors and dynamics, both in prison management and on incarcerated people. Entry and observation in prison units became feasible due to the fact that the researcher performs the function of a Criminal Police and works internally in a penitentiary. Although the proximity to the prisoners certainly does not guarantee a position of symmetry, the close coexistence reveals to a certain degree the forms of social organization of the group, due to the particular situations that occur between them. In this sense, both the approach proposed by paraethnography (Islam, 2015) and the ethnographic reflections of Wacquant (2002) are relevant to the research. Aiming to delineate, as closely as possible, the meanings that the subjects themselves give to their actions and the elements that manifest an economic system based, in a specific way, on aspects of the prison environment. The conclusions point to a model of relationship established by prisoners who, through the appropriation of public space, profit from various daily activities in the prison system, from the extortion of family members, from the circulation and sale of products, among other particularities of exchange analyzed. The trade circuit appears as one of the main elements of the social order in many Brazilian prisons, as well as being one of the most advantageous economies of prison factions.