FROM IMPRESSION OF THE BODY TO IMPRESSION OF THE MIND: A BLACK LOOK AT WOMEN'S PSYCHIC SUFFERING BLACK IN JAIL

Abstract

Introduction: The prison universe consists of a field little explored and made invisible by society, little is known about its multidimensionality and complexity, above all, the condition of black women in prison and the crossings that commit them. Objective: To highlight the mental health of imprisoned black women, and the implications of racism for the constitution of subjectivity, relativize with the racialization of laws, public health policies and public security policy. Method: The methodology was carried out and supported by the conceptual lenses provided by the intersectional approach as an analysis tool. I used writing workshops, with previous readings of the Carolina Maria de Jesus books and the use of document data from the Cartas do Cárcere project. Results: The narratives expressed in the workshops showed appeals, confessions, anguish, hopelessness, and that prison plays, in our time, the kidnapping of the word, so the letters configured resistance to this process of violent silencing. Considering that the rates of mental disorders are higher in people deprived of liberty associated with confinement and social determinants such as racial prejudice, social and gender inequality. Conclusion: This study revealed the complexity of working with a framework that reflects a structural context of discrimination, subordination and precariousness of incarcerated women, with that the urgency of inverting the logic of hegemonic thinking. However, I highlight the relevance of the workshops that mitigated the psychic suffering that the prisoners experience daily, contributing to triggering unconscious mechanisms to elaborate and reframe their existences inside and outside prison.