Os eleitos do cárcere (original) (raw)

The present essay is an ethnography which aim is to study the relation among acts of violence and how these can be justified through religious speech. For such work I researched an evangelical group, called Estrela do Cárcere, linked with Assembly of God and consisting of 145 prisoners who are charged with liberty privation punishment at the State Prison of Jacuí, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Along this work I discuss about the meaning of being a believer inside the prison, the importance of honour and its influence on the hierarchical ascension ways, as well as issues related to the acquisition and the symbolic impact of the writing and reading skills to the group. Finally, I relate the concept of violence between the believers and the non-believers in prison, and I discuss how the religious speech may justify acts of violence practiced among the convicts. Violence is regarded in a different way between the believers and the non-believers. Physical violence is the most used resource to solve any internal problem among the non-believers. However, violence is only used by the believers as a last resource to keep the order and discipline in the group, and when it happens to be necessary, it is no longer perceived as violence, but as a means of punishment to those who disobey “God’s Will”.