This article intends to discuss the work on the prison system in the Federal District. despite the prison work is a fundamental task in the Penal Execution Law (article 1), it has a limited importance in the political agenda. This analysis leads to some questions: if work in prison is important as an instrument of rehabilitation, what explain this lack of relevance? How the work in prison is neglected in the political agenda of the actors involved in the administration and execution of the Penal Execution Law? Using in-depth interviews, the objective is to analyze the social representations of the social actors who deal with the penitentiary policies in the Federal District. Thus, the purpose is, from this methodological approach, to get to know the practices of the Brazilian penitentiary system.
Punitive rationalities; social representations; inmate work; penitentiary policy; Federal District