Encarceramento, precariedade e pandemia: Uma investigação sobre as visitas realizadas na Unidade Prisional de Ressocialização Feminina do Complexo Penitenciário de Pedrinhas, Estado do Maranhão

Abstract

The prison context, traditionally, implies on the abandonment of the incarcerated people, aggravating when factors such as race and ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, nationality, type of pregnancy and motherhood are taken into account. This study aims to investigate, by means of an intersectional theoretical framework, the visits carried out at the Female Resocialization of the Pedrinhas Penitentiary Complex (UPRF), in the State of Maranhão, and the impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused on them. Inaugurated in 2010, the UPRF of Pedrinhas is the first female prison in the state and operates in an autonomous building located at the exit of São Luís city, Maranhão, close by the other prisons of the Penitentiary Complex of Pedrinhas. In order to fulfill this task, the following specific objectives were established: mapping scientific research about gender-structured incarceration and other social difference codes; analyze the context observed in the place where the research has taken place; and, finally, reflect about the observation and reports of the interviewees. An exploratory research with a qualitative approach has been developed, which has allowed an in-depth understanding of the phenomena. Bibliographic and exploratory research were combined in the bases of periodicals and governmental sources with approaches to ethnography in order to get to know the studied group from the perspective of its own members, in this case, incarcerated women. From the observations made, it was possible to perceive the difficulties encountered by relatives of imprisoned people in carrying out their visits and, also, their perception of the institution's public policies during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Furthermore, the fact that majority of the female inmates visitors are women as well is also noteworthy. The timeframe which was possible to carry out the observation and the number of women interviewed have impacted on the results found in this study. Thus, new studies, extending the timeframe and increasing the number of interviews may contribute with new aspects and more conclusive evidence than the ones observed..