Who is the imprisoned woman? Brazilian female incarceration in the light of the labeling approach

Abstract

The present work, by tracing the profile of the Brazilian incarcerated woman under the auspices of the labelling approach theory, intends to expose the social and sexist factors that guide the homeland prison policy. To this end, a bibliographic review mixed with data analysis capable of validating the “labeling” of the socially marginalized, including poor, black, single women and mothers, as criminals, as well as the prominence of patriarchal aspects that were carried out hinder the conception of women as an active agent in crime, and therefore an adaptation in the prison system to this clientele. Thus, it is expected to provide opportunity for discussion, criticality and adequacy of Brazilian prison policies to the reality of women protagonists of deviant conduct.