Adopting an ethnographic perspective, in this article I explore the complex interconnections between the circulation and creation of personal relations in the prison environment, focusing in particular on Rio de Janeiro. The argument unfolds on three levels of analysis: an examination of the institutional mechanisms responsible for the circulation of men and women in the penitentiary system; the discussion on the value of freedom and methods of escaping; the appreciation of modes of subjectivization contained in the production of 'delinquency.' In this way I look to contribute fresh material to the debate on recent changes in the Brazilian penitentiary system, including the growth of prison parks, the hardening of the penal system and the creation of new forms of organization among prisoners.
Penitentiary system; Rio de Janeiro; Overcrowding; Differentiated disciplinary system; Circulation