“Novas Criaturas” A transformação de traficantes do Bairro da Penha (Vitória-ES) na Igreja Operando Deus

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to analyze the religious conversion of traffickers who live at Bairro da Penha – in the city of Vitória-ES – considered one of the most violent hoods of the Espirito Santo´s capital, through the membership at Operando Deus Church, a Pentecostal evangelical organization that is a reference in the life changing of criminals and drug addicts in the district. Through the methods of participant observation, semi structured interviews, life narratives, ethnographic data, and through being affected in the context, we aim to understand how that church succeed to reach that public and put into practice their methods and strategies in order to work the resocialization of that people, transforming them and consolidating their ethical and moral principles and, consequently, their conduct. The Gift Theory is used do explain the permanent exchanges that are the condition of existence of the structure and of the conversion process; interactionism is utilized to understand the building of the new identities within the new social group; and the career notions will aid in the understanding of the new roles of the individuals that, faithful to the structure, maintain, consolidate and develop their new identity, enabling hierarchical progression.