Presence and absence of penitentiary population at São Paulo State inland small towns and medium cities

Abstract

This article presents the impact caused by the presence of newest penitentiary institutions in São Paulo’s West since 90’s taking by reference two cases: the cities of Presidente Bernardes and Presidente Prudente. We adopt as analytical perspective the social representations produced by these institutions and the various subjects involved with it and from that we identified the political disputes that underlie these impacts and ended by questioning the state’s centrality in discourses about the penitentiary questions and its consequences, in spite of differences between daily life of small, medium and large cities have not been disregarded.