The absence of studies on the history of Brazilian criminology hinders the understanding of the colonial and slaveholding legacy that persists in contemporary social control mechanisms. Therefore, this study aims to present findings from recent research on historically specific social control practices developed in Brazil. Initially, we demonstrate how the development of social control mechanisms during the colonial period served to maintain the slave system, ranging from the use of corporal punishment in the private sphere to the institutionalization of punitive power through police forces and prisons. Subsequently, we show how these social control practices were renewed in the late nineteenth century through the instrumentalization of criminology—in a process that persisted at least until the 1950s to meet labour market demands—while consistently providing justifications for the treatment of undesirable population groups: descendants of enslaved people, vilified immigrants, and White nationals who did not conform to labour expectations. Finally, we briefly outline how the legacy of these historically constructed social control mechanisms continues to clearly influence contemporary crime management strategies in Brazil, with their racist underpinnings and focus on restraining poor and marginalized populations.