What the Eyes Can't See: Stories from Rio de Janeiro's Prisons (From Birth of the Penitentiary in Latin America: Essays on Criminology, Prison Reform, and Social Control, 1830-1940, P 101-122, 1996, Ricardo D. Salvatore and Carlos Aguirre, eds. - See NCJ-168123)

• NCJ Number: 168127
• Author(s): M L Bretas
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 22 pages
• Sale Source: University of Texas Press
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This essay analyzes how Rio de Janeiro's prisons and prison life are represented by different types of witnesses.

Abstract

The essay studies the ways journalists, lawyers, convicts and others reflect on prison and prison life, showing the multiple meanings and symbolisms associated with the institutions. By depicting prison populations as essentially made up of recidivists, true criminals and the like, these witnesses disseminated an image of the prison as a world apart, hidden from public scrutiny. This tended to alleviate the anxieties felt by the free population and helped to stress the importance of having the criminals behind bars. The overall result was the naturalization of the image of the "savage criminal," a notion shared by the criminologists whose task was to decipher the intricacies of the criminal mind. Portraying criminals as unreformable ultimately offered pessimistic judgments about the overall performance of the reformed prisons. Depicting inmates as peaceful and obedient in appearance but violent and brutal in essence reinforced the pessimism of reformers on the possibilities of rehabilitation. Notes