Abstract
This essay discusses limits and potentials of critical perspectives in empirical legal research, particularly in the domain of prison studies. Focusing on eight papers published at Direito e Práxis in the last ten years, this paper depicts some epistemological and methodological issues that are relevant to a broader landscape of challenges empirical legal researchers are dealing with in Brazil. This essay also indicates several meanings of the idea of critique employed at the eight papers aiming to connect them to the ambitious goal of producing research that might contribute to legal reform.
Keywords:
Empirical legal research; Documental analysis; Interviews; Imprisonment; Decision making process; Alternatives to imprisonment