Utopias penitenciárias projetos jurídicos e realidade carcerária no Brasil

Abstract

This paper pretends to contribute to the historiographical debate on violence, stressing a theme little explored on the historical level: the penitentiary system. Consequently, I selected an argument that I consider to be polemic: the utopias of the penitentiary system - projects idealized by jurists in the XIX and XX centuries, intending to solve the problem of overcrowded prisons. I highlight the following projects: "Cidade Penitenciária do Rio de Janeiro", the "Selo Penitenciário" and the "Colônias de Defesa Social", whose intents were to give the prisoner ideal life conditions inside the prison. Or, at least, to provide palliative solutions, as the utilization of Pest-houses and asylums for the tuberculous prisioners. Projects and solutions that, in process of time, became impracticable.