EDUCATION IN THE PRISON SYSTEM AS A MECHANISM OF RESOCIALIZATION: LEGAL FOUNDATIONS, STRUCTURAL CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

Abstract

This article analyzes education in the Brazilian prison system as an instrument of resocialization and promotion of human dignity, considering the structural challenges faced by criminal enforcement in Brazil. The research is based on the understanding that custodial sentences should not have only a punitive character, but also a resocializing purpose, as established by the Federal Constitution of 1988 and the Law of Penal Execution. In this context, education is presented as an important mechanism for human development, reconstruction of citizenship and reduction of criminal recidivism. The study addresses the legal foundations of the right to education in prison, the main obstacles to the implementation of educational policies in penitentiary units, and the contributions of the sociocultural theory of Lev Vygotsky to the understanding of education as a process of social transformation. The methodology adopted consists of bibliographic review and legislative analysis, based on the Federal Constitution, the Law of Penal Execution, the Mandela Rules and authors who discuss the penal system, human rights and education. It is concluded that strengthening prison education constitutes an essential measure for the realization of fundamental rights and for the construction of a more humanized criminal policy, although its implementation still faces significant structural, social and political limitations.