Abstract
To understand the social representations that women deprived of their freedom have of imprisonment, violence, and their consequences. An exploratory-descriptive qualitative study with 15 women from a female penitentiary in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Semistructured interview was used. Data submitted to thematic content analysis and interpreted under Social Representations. Categories identified: "Enclosed and abandoned in the prison environment": loss of contact with relatives, difficulties living in prison, and right to be reinserted into society. "Imprisoned in a cycle of social inequality": lack of support, access to education and employment opportunities, leading them to engage in new illicit activities and consequent imprisonment. The social representations of prisoners suggest that they perceive themselves to be doubly "imprisoned", either from the objective point of view, as an individual deprived of freedom; or subjective, as citizens who have their rights disrespected and their possibilities of rehabilitation limited by the prison system.
Highlights
The media representations of violence have massively invaded the collective imagination, exposing the population to the perverse effects of discourses that, on the pretext of fighting violent acts, have contributed to spreading a generalized feeling of panic and impotence in the face of the supposed loss of control of the State against crime and delinquency
In compliance with ethical standards, the participants were guided about the objectives and purposes of the research and about the respect to the confidentiality of their identification. Those who agreed to participate in the study signed, in two copies, the Free and Informed Consent Form (FICF)
The use of social representations to understand the consequences of life in prison is justified by the assertion that it is impossible to understand this experience without questioning how are the senses, values, and beliefs that organize and occupy social life, which are the content of social representations(12)
Summary
The media representations of violence have massively invaded the collective imagination, exposing the population to the perverse effects of discourses that, on the pretext of fighting violent acts, have contributed to spreading a generalized feeling of panic and impotence in the face of the supposed loss of control of the State against crime and delinquency. Trafficking, which puts weapons and drugs into circulation, floods the periphery of large cities, where the state is absent, and the expansion of the organized crime network is nurtured by the maintenance of illegal businesses branching out into globalized markets. The lack of opportunity to enter the labor market as a citizen and equal access to cultural goods, and the universe of consumption makes the violence market a viable choice for the young population, thirsting for social recognition(1-2). In this adverse scenario, women have been increasingly co-opted and led to be part of this perverse reality. Once they enter the “world of crime,” one of the presumed consequences after some time of exposure is imprisonment
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