In this article I aim to explore how identity is constructed among penitentiary agents, based on the dynamics found inside prisons, but also taking into account the relation with society outside. Two aspects are highlighted. The first concerns processes within prison and how the work of penitentiary agents is perceived by wider society. The second refers to social transformations more generally, based on the analysis by Wacquant (1990), who argues that the expansion of the prison system - i.e. the emergence of the Penal State - occurs in parallel with the shrinking of the Social State. This approach enables a multicausal understanding of the phenomenon of punishment, including issues ranging from the procedures and reflections referring strictly to punishment to others not directly related to the phenomenon, but connected to it.
Penitentiary agents; Identity construction; Punishment; Penitentiary system