Educação e práticas laborais sustentáveis nas prisões: um estudo com pessoas privadas de liberdade das penitenciárias de Aquiraz/Ceará/Brasil e de praia/ilha de Santiago/Cabo verde

Abstract

The imprisonment or deprivation of liberty of individuals who have caused or may cause harm to physical integrity and/or property, either to individuals or to society as a whole, is commonly understood in collective thinking as a viable strategy for combating and preventing crime and/or preserving social order. In this context, women in situations of social vulnerability, marked by structural inequalities and injustices, represent a significant portion of the incarcerated population, contributing to prison overcrowding. This study aims to understand the contributions of educational, labor-related, and sustainable activities developed within the prison context to the resocialization process of women deprived of liberty at the Instituto Penal Feminino Auri Moura Prison, located in Aquiraz, Ceará, Brazil, and at the Central Prison of Praia, Santiago Island, Cape Verde. This is a study with a qualitative and quantitative approach, whose methodological trajectory is grounded in a review of specialized literature and in the conduct of semi-structured interviews with two prison administrative directors, eight teachers responsible for the teaching–learning process, three staff members, and fourteen women deprived of liberty. The quantitative dimension was based on the analysis of data from national penitentiary information reports for the year 2023, which were systematized and comparatively presented using absolute values and percentages.The results indicate that educational, labor, and sustainable practices significantly contribute to strengthening self-esteem, constructing new forms of knowledge, developing social and professional skills, and expanding the prospects for social reintegration of women deprived of liberty, despite structural challenges and the insufficiency of public policies sensitive to gender-specific needs. It is concluded that such initiatives constitute fundamental strategies for the humanization of imprisonment and for edefining the purpose of punishment, highlighting the need for continuous investment and integrated public policies that promote effective female resocialization in the prison contexts analyzed, including the systematic incorporation of environmental education as a transversal axis of formative actions within prisons.