SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC AND EDUCATIONAL PROFILE OF WOMEN FORMER PRISONERS IN THE AMAZON REGION OF PARÁ: PENAL SELECTIVITY, STRUCTURAL INEQUALITY, AND DECOLONIAL CRITIQUE (2021-2025)

Abstract

This study sought to analyze the sociodemographic and educational profile of 226 women released from prison who were assisted by a social organization in the Metropolitan Region of Belém, Pará, Brazil, between 2021 and 2025, in order to understand how this profile relates to theories of penal selectivity, structural inequality, and the decolonial critique of women's incarceration in the Amazon. This is a documentary study with a quantitative and descriptive approach, examining variables related to educational attainment, marital status, self-declared race/ethnicity, and criminal offenses. The data were interpreted through the perspectives of critical criminology, the sociology of punishment, and decolonial studies. The findings revealed a profile predominantly composed of women with low educational attainment, who identified themselves as Black or Brown, originated from peripheral urban areas, and had been convicted mainly of drug trafficking offenses. These findings indicate the selective operation of a penal system that criminalizes poverty, racializes territories, and reinforces gender inequalities in the urban Amazon. It is concluded that the study achieved its objective by characterizing the sociodemographic and educational profile of formerly incarcerated women and highlighting the need for territorially sensitive and intersectional social reintegration policies committed to overcoming racism, institutional sexism, and penal coloniality.