Economics of crime helps to understand prison crisis

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Crisis in the prison system raises a series of debates (Photo: Disclosure)

A type of “exceptional behavior”, where what matters is the conviction of justice agents, has been gaining ground in Brazilian society and is further worsening expectations of an improvement in the prison problem in the country. This is what the doctor in political science from Unicamp, Paulo de Tarso da Silva Santos. In December 2015, the Journal of Unicamp published a report (see here), based on Santos' doctorate, which showed the denial of citizenship in public security policies and the consequences in the Brazilian prison system.

In the article, the researcher stated that there would be no solution to the problem without reclaiming citizenship and projected, like many scholars on the subject, the worst scenarios for the prison system and for society in relation to the growth of criminal factions. “Today what is at stake is not whether the criminal is imprisoned or not, whether the prison is private or not. I simply don't arrest someone and then hand over the body to the family with the justification that they are criminals. We cannot forget what the function of the state is, the role of criminal law”, says Santos.

Paulo de Tarso da Silva Santos
Paulo de Tarso da Silva Santos

In addition to the naturalization of exceptional behavior, there is the proliferation of hate speech, increasingly amplified by social networks. Santos considers that the media, which should now create mechanisms for a differentiated debate, reinforces the spectacle of the massacres. “The type of coverage that the press is providing does not favor a debate that reduces tensions and can encourage society to think about the problem beyond the issue of factions”, he highlights.

For Santos, the impact of the war between criminal factions and international trafficking is being discussed very little. “What are the limits of trafficking operations now and how will this impact the entire structure of the prison system? The organization of factions in the northern states of the country allows me to assume a process that involves international trafficking, because, otherwise, what would be the reason for the PCC to be expanding its bases to Rondônia or Amazonas, if not due to the expectation of a new agreement? With the closing of a peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC, there is already an attempt to replace this supplier”.

For Santos, the prison system has deteriorated in such a way, with the replacement of the State by organized crime that there is no longer any possibility of mediation of the conflict “neither by the state nor by civil society”. The researcher believes that governments and the judiciary simply do not know what to do. “It is a topic that has never been prioritized in the Brazilian political debate that comes to the fore during a period of legislative recess.”

Meanwhile, criminal organizations follow an “unimaginable” dynamic of human reproduction and renewal, because there is never an absence of command. “A low-risk offender who enters prison is forced to choose a faction. If they built a system that is organized crime, they organized the system (since the state did not organize it). And it doesn’t just apply to inside the prison. The point is that prison is no good for anything else. But how do you discuss this in a society that thinks the way out is prison? ”

Crime economy
For the economist and professor at Unicamp, Marcelo Justus, director of the Center for Social, Urban and Regional Economics at the Institute of Economics, a specialist in the economics of crime, “it is normal for the population to be indignant at seeing the prison population growing with a high cost of maintenance, and yet the growth in crime. But we cannot say that prison 'does not resolve' because we have not reached a level of scientific knowledge in Brazil that can provide this answer.”

According to Justus, the prison population practically tripled between 2000 and 2014, according to the National Penitentiary Information Survey – Infopen. However, there was no reduction in the homicide rate, the most reliable measure of crime according to the professor.

Professor Marcelo Justos standing in the photo
Justus, specialist in the economics of crime: organized crime is not responsible for the problem alone

Another piece of information brought up by the teacher concerns overcrowding. “The prison occupancy rate places Brazil in 36th place in the world. The prisoner/space ratio is 1,67, which corresponds to the high deficit of approximately 250 thousand places in the prison system. Although high, there are countries with an even greater prison deficit. ”

Justus states that organized crime is occupying a space, but it is not alone responsible for the public security situation in Brazil. "The factions clearly have economic objectives, they are seeking profits. In an international scenario, for the expansion of drug trafficking business, it is obvious that organized crime will seek this and will have its "offices" spread across the country in prisons" .

All variables that can influence crime rates are analyzed by the economics of crime. Both the causes and consequences of crime and violence are observed. “We look at both the costs and the expected returns on crime. Crime is a complex process and our statements are based on empirical evidence. Economics understands that there is an incentive to crime and deterrence of criminal behavior”

“The tendency is for organized crime to grow because you have opportunities and a low probability of failure in Brazil”, he points out. Justus also states that a problem is the type of imprisonment with chains that do not meet basic requirements that people are entitled to, "in addition to the high capacity for unauthorized communication with the outside world through cell phones”.

Also according to Infopen, the professor highlights, today the State is unable to guarantee the safety of those in prison. The professor highlights that the homicide rate per 100 thousand inhabitants within the population deprived of liberty was, in 2014, practically four times higher than the rate of people living in freedom.

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