Abstract:
This research aims to study the institution of punishment in the Brazilian legal system,
analyzing its legal nature and its functions that transcend the merely retributive character,
reaching preventive, reparative, and resocializing dimensions. It examines the constitutional
principle of the humanization of punishment, provided for in Article 5 of the 1988 Federal
Constitution and regulated by the Penal Execution Law (Law No. 7.210/84), confronting it
with the practical reality of a prison system marked by overcrowding, institutional violence,
the presence of criminal factions, and insufficient public policies aimed at socialreintegration. Based on the theoretical contributions of Michel Foucault and Eugenio Raúl
Zaffaroni, it seeks to understand the structural and political limits that prevent the full
effectiveness of resocialization, highlighting that, although the legislation ensures
fundamental rights, its realization encounters barriers in the structural crisis of the prison
system. The methodology adopted is qualitative and exploratory, based on bibliographic and
documentary research, with analysis of national legislation, international treaties, and
doctrinal reference works. It is concluded that the construction of a fairer and more efficient
penal system depends on overcoming material and institutional deficiencies, the effective
application of the principle of individualization and humanization of punishment, and the
implementation of public policies that guarantee the convicted person real conditions for a
dignified return to society.
