Os serviços penais na política pública: um estudo de caso estadual

Abstract

The article proposes to reflect on the meaning of penal services from a theoretical and empirical point of view. At the theoretical level, we argue that the semantics of penal services can be revealed through categories from the punctuated equilibrium theory, created to analyze periods of stability and changes in public policies. Next, we take the state of Minas Gerais as an analytical case study. With a view to problematizing what happened in this location from 2003 to 2019, a database was built in panel format, with data on the prison population, the budget executed in this area, transfers from the National Penitentiary Fund (FUNPEN) and, also, some indicators on the financial and criminal situation of this federated state. The results indicate that penal services are not a comprehensive public policy, as they are increasingly restricted to maintaining order within prison establishments. Therefore, despite practices such as criminal alternatives, electronic monitoring and care for the person released, penal services have been limited to deprivation of liberty in prison. In this sense, the informational factor transmitted by the image of this public policy seems to have led politicians (understood as the governors of Minas Gerais) to make the decision to make incremental changes, giving more and more autonomy to the prison system. Key words: Public Policies; Minas Gerais; Prison System.