Freedom-deprived women: social representations of prison, violence, and their consequences

ABSTRACT Objective: To understand the social representations that women deprived of their freedom have of imprisonment, violence, and their consequences. Method: An exploratory-descriptive qualitative study with 15 women from a female penitentiary in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Semistructured interview was used. Data submitted to thematic content analysis and interpreted under Social Representations. Results: Categories identified: “Enclosed and abandoned in the prison environment”: loss of contact with relatives, difficulties living in prison, and right to be reinserted into society. “Imprisoned in a cycle of social inequality”: lack of support, access to education and employment opportunities, leading them to engage in new illicit activities and consequent imprisonment. Final considerations: The social representations of prisoners suggest that they perceive themselves to be doubly “imprisoned”, either from the objective point of view, as an individual deprived of freedom; or subjective, as citizens who have their rights disrespected and their possibilities of rehabilitation limited by the prison system.