This paper discusses the implementation of the penitentiary model in the city of Florianópolis in the 1930s from the standpoint of hygienist medicine and its interface with legal thinking. From the 1920s onward, several types of control institutions were created in Florianópolis. It was necessary to devise a modern police apparatus to control the population, given the fear of catching diseases and the epidemic hazard posed by the dense population of the slums and multiple-storey houses. The city center should be made healthier for the bourgeoisie, but first 'undesirables' such as beggars and prostitutes needed to be put 'where they belonged'. The objective of this article is to analyze how these "fears" that affected all urban centers as from the 19th century also appeared in Florianópolis and what control strategies were created, particularly those devised within penitentiaries.
Hygiene; Eugenics; Penitentiary model; Public health; Medicalization