Abstract

MONTEIRO, Rodrigo P. et al. Incarcerated activity: The work of psychologists in prisons. Psicol. teor. prat. [online]. 2022, vol.24, n.3, ePTPSS15510.  Epub Mar 10, 2025. ISSN 1516-3687.  https://doi.org/10.5935/1980-6906/eptpss15510.en.

In Brazil, the presence of psychology in prisons was established by the Criminal Sentence Execution Act, in 1984, and it was intensified in the past three decades. In the paper, the results of a study are discussed to understand the activity of psychologists in the prisons in Minas Gerais, based on clinical approaches to the work. We performed a qualitative research, with content analysis of documents, observations in five prisons, and interviews with 14 psychologists who work at these prisons. We verified that the role of psychology in prisons has been controversial, with different institutional intersections resulting from the security and punishment logic, which seems to frequently oppose professional ethical principles. The institutional demand for classifying prisoners overlaps with the monitoring of rehabilitation programs, set forth by law. This scenario, worsened by the lack of professionals, results in obstructions in the activity, the distress of the worker, trivialization of the violation of rights, and uncritical adhesion to the repressive mechanism of the institution.

Keywords : psychology; prison system; occupational health clinics; human rights; ethics.

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