CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, SELECTIVITY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS: REFLECTIONS FROM A CRIMINOLOGY STUDIES RESEARCH GROUP
Keywords:
Criminologia crítica, Seletividade penal, Direitos humanos, Sistema prisional, Plano Pena JustaAbstract
This article discusses the selectivity of the Brazilian criminal justice system in light of critical
criminology and recent national data on incarceration, structural racism, gender-based violence
and mental health. It draws on the experience of a study group on criminology and human rights,
conducted with undergraduate law students, to connect theoretical foundations with contemporary
research problems. It addresses the shift from positivist to critical criminology, the notion of penal
selectivity, the gender, race and sexuality markers that cut across the justice system, the
relationship between penal control and mental health, and the overcrowding and rights violations
that characterize the Brazilian prison system, with attention to the Pena Justa Plan, developed
within the scope of the Allegation of Non-Compliance with a Fundamental Precept (ADPF) 347.
It also discusses the methodology of the study group as a strategy for critical training in
undergraduate legal education. It concludes that penal selectivity is not a side effect of the Brazilian
criminal justice system but a structural feature of its operation, and that critical training spaces
help to qualify this debate.
