A banalidade do mal nos sistemas penitenciários: uma análise da desumanização e da violência institucional a partir de Hannah Arendt

Abstract

This study analyzes institutional violence and dehumanization in the Brazilian prison system based on Hannah Arendt's concept of the banality of evil. Using a qualitative approach grounded in bibliographic review and document analysis, the research investigates how cruel practices are normalized within prison structures and legitimized by bureaucratic and legal discourses. Drawing from Eichmann in Jerusalem, it is understood that evil can be carried out by ordinary individuals who act without ethical reflection within systems that dissolve moral responsibility. This logic is evident in Brazilian prisons, where overcrowding, torture, medical neglect, and deaths are treated as administrative events rather than human rights violations. Cases such as the Carandiru massacre and the rebellions in Pedrinhas and Altamira illustrate impunity and the normalization of brutality. By articulating Arendt’s critique with Angela Davis’s abolitionist perspective, the research shows that the prison system fails its legal role of rehabilitation and instead functions as a mechanism of social and racial exclusion. The findings confirm the hypothesis that the banality of evil manifests structurally in penal institutions, requiring not only punctual reforms but a paradigm shift grounded in critical thinking and restorative justice. It concludes that resisting banality demands the recovery of individual and collective responsibility in the face of institutionalized violence