The Brazilian prison system, the poor conditions of prisons across the country as one of the factors that hinder resocialisation and reinforce the need for alternative sentences, the lack of infrastructure and the total neglect of our rulers have contributed significantly to the transformation of Brazilian prisons into veritable "schools of crime". The causes of overcrowding in Brazilian prisons include the effects of the anti-drugs law, the excess of pre-trial detentions, the use of closed regimes even when there are alternative sentences, and the fact that prisons do not fulfil the role of re-socialisation and strengthen crime. The solution lies in a humanised system that offers study and, at the same time, professional work.