LENDO PARA A LIBERDADE: a leitura para remição de pena.

Abstract

This research was conducted with individuals deprived of their liberty participating in an extension project that allows for sentence reduction through reading at the Corumbá Male Penal Establishment in Mato Grosso do Sul. It was conducted from the perspective of historicaldialectical materialism and aimed to understand whether reading for sentence reduction offered to individuals deprived of their liberty constitutes an educational and transformative activity, whether it favors the cognitive development and social and emotional skills of participants, in order to contribute to the development of a critical and transformative consciousness that may assist in reintegration into society after serving their sentence. The sentence reduction through reading is in accordance with Recommendation No. 44/2013 of the National Council of Justice, which introduced reading as a complementary activity, especially for prisoners who have not had access to education and work, as guaranteed by the Penal Execution Law. This consists of allowing inmates to read and produce a review of each book read, which, when approved, is forwarded to the criminal enforcement judge to obtain a four-day reduction in sentence, and the inmates can read and review up to 12 books per year, which is equivalent to a 48-day reduction. In this research, after presenting the legal framework for sentence reduction through reading in Brazil, issues related to the prison system and the criminalization of poverty are discussed. Data for analysis was collected through roundtable discussions with inmates participating in sentence reduction through reading. After transcribing the statements, they were submitted to discourse analysis based on meaning cores, in accordance with the assumptions of Historical-Cultural Psychology, supported by Historical-Dialectical Materialism. This research aims to strengthen the voices of researchers who have been fighting for advances in legislation on the provision of education and reading for sentence reduction to be implemented in practice for all prisoners who wish to participate, that is, that the educational opportunities established by law are offered to the entire prison population, the vast majority of whom have not had access to quality education, which limits their job prospects and future upon their return to freedom