PRISON LABOUR AS A SOCIAL REINTEGRATION TOOL: A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATORY STUDY INVOLVING WOMEN WITHIN THE PORTUGUESE JUSTICE SYSTEM

Abstract

The enforcement of prison sentences is carried out together with a set of programmes that enables inmates to learn or develop personal and social skills to help them follow the rules and get along with others in prison, and also encourages the perpetrators of crime to adopt responsible behaviour that facilitates their social reintegration at the end of their sentence. As is the case in other countries, there are a lot fewer women than men in prison in Portugal. Given this context, a qualitative approach with a strong ethnographic bias will be employed to study the prevailing resocialization model in the Portuguese justice system. One specific objective will be to identify the effects or consequences of the Portuguese penitentiary treatment and its process on the acquisition and internalization of self-empowering behaviour in women in prison through prison labour. Considering that registration for prison work is a prerequisite for possible access to measures of flexible prison treatment, which in itself raises questions as to the voluntary nature of working inside the prison, none of the women interviewed believes that prison labour will help her cope when she leaves the prison.