A Criminologia e a polícia no Brasil na transição do século XIX para o XX

Abstract

This article seeks to trace the evolution of criminal theories produced by the Italian School of Criminology founded in the nineteenth century, their institutionalization, and impact among the Brazilian intellectuals to have developed police institutions. A particular emphasis is placed on appropriations of the work of Cesare Lombroso and other schools of thought on criminology, as well as their relations with medical discourse. These theories were welcomed into Brazilian social thought, especially among prosecutors and public security officials concerned with maintaining social control, and that ended up stigmatizing the poor, to be socially marginalized. This affected the approach adopted by the police, highlighting factors such as a person’s skin color, income, place of residence and way of dressing, emphasizing social stigmas and consolidating the premise of generalized suspicion of poor individuals.