Homens encarcerados: assistência religiosa e estratégias de vida na prisão

• Ano de defesa: 2012
• Autor(a) principal: Livramento, André Mota do
• Orientador(a): Rosa, Edinete Maria
• Banca de defesa: Menandro, Paulo Rogério Meira, Massola, Gustavo Martineli
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo; Mestrado em Psicologia
• Programa de Pós-Graduação: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia
• País: BR
• Palavras-chave em Português: Psicologia social; Prisões; Religião; Prisioneiros - vida religiosa
• Palavras-chave em Inglês: Social psychology; Prisons; Religion; Prisoners - Religious life
• Área do conhecimento CNPq: Psicologia
• Link de acesso: http://repositorio.ufes.br/handle/10/6642

The penitentiary issue is broadly discussed in today s society for the aspects related to public security, the (in)efficiency of the system in recuperating the prisoners, or because of its structural conditions. The Brazilian reality shows us a deficient prison universe which lacks policies that can provide prisoners rights. In such context, religious activities have secured some space inside the penitentiaries, which are seen as a fertile ground for their actuation. It is believed that the religious speech is the one with which the prisoner has more contact and, among the various types of assistance, it is the most effective in prisons. The objective of this study was to investigate the meaning of prison and religious life for the interns of a prison and the voluntaries who give religious assistance inside the institution. The research was done in two steps and performed at Instituto de Reablitação Social (IRS), in Vila Velha, Espirito Santo. At the first moment, which lasted about two months, the religious practice inside the institution was observed. After this period, six religious agents and 11 inmates were interviewed with the help of a semi-structured script. All the interviews were recorded with the authorization of the subjects, who signed a clear term of agreement. Later, they were thoroughly transcribed in order to be analyzed by Alceste software. A journal was also used and every day of visitation was registered. Theories by Michel Foucault and Erving Goffman guided the discussions in this work. In the study with the religious group, it was possible to notice singularities between the practices of different groups. The religious assistance given by Catholics and Spiritists present similarities and seem to care more about the prison collective than about religion, although this element is present. Catholics and Spiritists understand that religious assistance has the objective of guarantying better conditions of life for the detents, and respect for their rights. Resocialization is a goal, but it is seen from the perspective of changing life conditions in prison. The main objective of the Evangelical assistance is conversion, so the focus of activities in on the individual and their personal transformation. Resocialization, for the Evangelicals, is seen as an intimate transformation in the life of the inmate by the assimilation of a religious doctrine. In the study done with the prisoners, it was possible to notice some strategies that they create to live inside the prisons. Although the prison universe is considered a space for mortification, the incarcerated do not give in to such process of depotentiation of life. In the search for possible alternatives to deal with imprisonment, they find ways of living that refuse this idea of submission to the prison system. The time of sentence may be associated with certain ways to deal with imprisonment. The analysis indicates that the longer the period, the more intense seems the process of mortification of the self. The meeting with the religious world inside the prison is also a viable way to endure sentence time. Religiosity allows the interns to find meaning for their lives, besides being a resource to help facing adverse situations in prison. Such way of living seems to give the detents some autonomy, although submitted to control. Religious practices work, this way, as secondary adjustments that give the inmates some kind of psychological comfort; a satisfaction that would be hard to find due to the circumstances they are experiencing. It is necessary to emphasize the need to build, inside the prisons, spaces that do not impose mortification; spaces that promote vitalization. It is fundamental that the prisoner have the possibility of serving his sentence in better conditions and understanding their life through distinct discursive ways. The transformation of the prison system is an urgent need so that the prison universe does not become a mechanism for punitive, coercive, and moralist practices. It is necessary to stop seeing the prison as a custodial institution