Estação Carandiru

Abstract

The Carandiru massacre highlighted two aspects of life behind bars in Brazil. The first, and the basis of much academic, government and NGO literature, concerns the appalling conditions in which prisoners find themselves, from severe staff shortage and overcrowding to wholly inadequate facilities, legal and medical cover.12 The second, and my focus today, concerns the means by which Brazilian prisons continue to operate and prisoners manage to survive in spite of such adversity and abandonment: in particular, how inmates are formally recruited to work as janitors and administrators, and how prisoners organise themselves to provide security, discipline and mutual support on the wings.

Keywords: Carandiru, Brazil, prison