This research aimed to apprehend emotional aspects of the passional crime, the experience of life in the prison and their effects. The qualitative analysis of handbooks and the interviews was carried through in two prisons of Salvador/BA. It occurred from categories apprehended in the narratives. It was verified that the criminals, if involved in a loving relationship and coming across with a rival or a situation of treason, are mobilized for the feelings of jealousy, love and hatred and for doubts that cause them a deep suffering and impels them to the crime. In a situation without exit, they transgress the law hitting and provoking body injuries, psychological violence and homicide. This act is followed by a judicial condemnation and by the experience of imprisonment, marked by suffering and stigmatization, which results in the feeling of regret and desire of going back to their project of life that was interrupted.
Passional crime; emotional aspects; experience of imprisonment