O Trabalho dos Presos e a Privatização das Prisões

The book presents the historical trajectory of the prison and discusses the role that the work of prisoners plays. In particular, it analyses the functions of prison and the work of prisoners based on two distinct theoretical lines, represented by Dario Melossi-Massimo Pavarini and Michel Foucault. The book identifies and analyses the various ideas proposed over the years for reforming prisons and, above all, the work carried out inside them by the prisoners. It points out failures in many attempts to make the productive sector of prisons similar to that of the private sector. It addresses the phenomenon of privatization of prisons that has gained momentum since the mid-1970s and the various proposals that have emerged, including those aimed at the productive sector. In addition, it stresses the limits and obstacles for the success of such proposals, which are imposed by the penal system as well as the dynamics of the prison world. The research on which the book is based was developed with the national and international bibliography and specially with the documentation of the American justice system.