Quando o meu eu é uma extensão do outro: uma etnografia sobre o assistencialismo prisional da Igreja Universal

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the prison-based social assistance work of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (IURD) through its social outreach group “Universal in Prisons” (UNP), active in the Campinas region and surrounding areas. Based on an ethnography conducted among the group’s volunteers, combining participant observation and interviews, it seeks to understand the functioning of UNP through its social practices and the meanings attributed by the participants themselves. Although the literature on the IURD’s social engagement tends to emphasize the theology of spiritual warfare and institutional discourses as key explanatory frameworks, this research prioritizes the volunteers’ perspectives on their own activities, highlighting that the group is composed of individuals who have experienced incarceration, either directly or through the experience of family members and close acquaintances. The findings show that the experience of imprisonment is not limited to a biographical fact, but constitutes a fundamental element in the production of meanings that guide action within UNP, shaping volunteers’ religious and social engagement.