Before the bars: Profiles and criminal dynamics of women prisoners in Minas Gerais

Abstract

The increase in the number of women prisoners in Brazil in the last decade, especially for drug trafficking, has led to the proliferation of studies on crime and female incarceration. A major part of these works presents narratives linked to traditional gender roles to explain the involvement of women in illegal networks, the expression “bandit love is the key to jail” being a synthesis of this understanding. Based on a qualitative and quantitative research with custodians for drug trafficking in Minas Gerais, we analyzed the extent to which this framework is consistent with women’s reports on their trajectories. According to the inmates, there is a convergence between the field of study on female crime and the treatment provided by the actors of the criminal justice system to this issue. This homogeneity of ideas, however, is not enough to encompass the diversity of women’s belongings to the illegal drug markets.

Keywords:
Female crime; Drug trafficking; Gender roles; “Bandit love”; Criminal justice system