Governing through families
support, punishment, and inequality in Brazil and England and Wales
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19005245Keywords:
prisoners’ families, family support, prison system, gender, social inequalityAbstract
This article comparatively examines support for prisoners’ families in Brazil and in England and Wales. It argues that, in both contexts, the penal system depends on family labour performed outside prison walls, albeit through different arrangements. In England and Wales, support is more formalised and integrated into rehabilitation agendas. In Brazil, state support is limited, and families often provide basic material necessities for imprisoned relatives through informal networks of mutual aid. The article argues that this labour is shaped by gender and class and, in the Brazilian case, also by racial and educational inequalities. It concludes that, despite their differences, both systems transfer a significant share of the social and economic costs of punishment onto families.
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