“You are worth as much as your package weighs”

The centrality of the first command of the capital in sentence serving in women’s prisons in the state of São Paulo

Abstract

Brazil ranks third in the world for female incarceration, with the state of São Paulo holding the largest imprisoned population in the country. It is also the state where the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) exerts hegemonic control over the prison system. In this context, this article aims to analyze how the PCC’s procederes (internal codes of conduct) influence sentence serving, based on 32 interviews conducted with individuals deprived of liberty in three women’s correctional facilities in São Paulo — two in the capital and one in the countryside. The investigation revealed that, in a context marked by the scarcity of basic necessities, the so-called “power of the package” (poder da sacola) and the connections with the PCC become central to the internal dynamics of prison life. The theoretical framework is grounded in Pierre Bourdieu’s (1986) concepts of economic, social, and symbolic capital, used as analytical tools to understand power relations and distinction within the prison environment. In this context, the PCC functions as a structuring force in everyday prison relations. While it enables access to and mobilization of different forms of capital, offering protection and a sense of belongin, it also imposes specific regimes of subjection.