How to Stop the Violence in Brazil
“La única salida de la espiral infinita de venganzas es la muerte. Para romper ese círculo vicioso hay que conseguir que funcionen juntos los proyectos de educación, de sanidad, de pacificación de los barrios, de formación policial, etc. Es fundamental que la población participe y que el deseo de salir de esa situación provenga de ella”.
Cesar Garcia Lima, periodista en Río de Janeiro
At the outset, let us state that we are not offering any fool-proof way of stopping the violence in Brazil. Rather, we want to report on what Brazilians think are the best ways to deal with an issue that concerns Brazilians greatly. Statistically, violence has reduced the life expectancy of the average Brazilian by 2.7 years, in addition to the constant psychological state of siege mentality. It would be fair to say that Brazilians see this as one of the major issues.
There is no lack of proposals to stop the violence. However, there also appears to be no conclusive evidence as to which methods work best (or even just better) and consequently no consensus. Here are some common ideas:
MORE POLICE: At the most direct level, the violence is seen as a law enforcement problem. We should put more policemen on the street and make sure that criminals are caught and punished to the full extent of the law. This becomes a test of commitment on the part of society to hire more police and to give them the legal tools to do their job.
Although this seems so obvious, there is some reluctance and concern. The existing police force do not engender much trust or confidence. They seemed to be very good at harassing homeless people, street vendors, unlicensed taxi drivers and other marginal groups, but they seemed unwilling to take on the heavily-armed, politically connected and financially powerful drug gangs. It is also common belief that the poorly paid police can often be bribed to turn a blind eye.
There are also others who believe that the law favors the criminals and restrains law enforcement, so that extrajudicial means must be used, including paramilitary death squads for cleansing the criminal elements.
MORE JOBS: Perhaps the strongest theoretical criticism of the law enforcement solution is that it treats the symptom and not the disease. The immediate cause of violent crimes is laid to the high unemployment rate. Brazil has one of the largest number of unemployed persons in the world, just after Russia and India, and there is no social protection for the unemployed as well as the many more who live below the poverty line. Violent crimes are thought to be committed by desperate people who have no obvious alternatives to eke out a living, but also as a result of the constant anxiety of living on the edge. As the Sao Paulo governor Mario Coves said, "There is no solution to the violence as long as the unemployment index continues at its present level, and this shameful poverty persists." If such was the case, the solution would be create more jobs to ease the social and economic pressures.
BETTER EDUCATION: The idea that creating more jobs would solve the violence problem can also be criticized for being superficial. Brazil has one of the most extreme unequal distribution of social and economic resources in the world. Unemployment is simply a manifestation of these inequalities. The point is not to create jobs for which there is no real economic need and for which the applicants are often ill-qualified and unmotivated. The real point is to provide the population with the education and training that allow them to compete with each other regardless of their parents' socio-economic status and also against people in other nations of the world.
We will now cite some survey data from the TGI Brasil study. This is a survey of 10,624 persons between the ages of 12 to 64 years old conducted during 2001. The relevant survey results are:
In the following table, we have tabulated these responses separately by various demographic groups.
| Demographic Characteristics | % Completely agree with "Get More Police" |
% Completely agree with "Create More Jobs" |
% Completely agree with "Improve Education" |
|
Socio-Economic Class |
39% 53% 55% |
61% 71% 73% |
75% 76% 73% |
|
Age/Sex |
55% 52% 44% 46% 41% 43% 57% 48% 48% 46% 54% 57% |
65% 69% 67% 69% 70% 65% 65% 73% 67% 69% 75% 72% |
70% 75% 71% 77% 80% 72% 72% 77% 76% 74% 78% 76% |
| Employment Status Full-time Part-time Unemployed |
45% 49% 45% |
67% 70% 69% |
74% 76% 75% |
| Educational level Doctorate degree Masters degree University/complete University/incomplete Secondary/complete Secondary/incomplete Primary/complete Primary/incomplete |
32% 29% 34% 37% 43% 51% 54% 56% |
44% 58% 60% 63% 67% 65% 67% 74% |
74% 74% 76% 76% 76% 73% 73% 75% |
| Occupation Owner/proprietor Director/upper management Middle/lower management Professional Technician/mechanic Administrative Maintenance/security |
38% 51% 42% 39% 53% 44% 53% |
62% 62% 68% 62% 64% 66% 72% |
77% 75% 75% 74% 74% 75% 75% |
| TOTAL | 49% | 68% | 75% |
From these data, we make these points:
From these data, Brazilians seemed to feel that better education is the best and most effective method to end the violence. But such policy matters are not necessarily up to a majority vote, even in a fully democratic society. For even a majority vote cannot create the massive investment of money and resources required to bring about an educational system with excellence and equal opportunity.
REFERENCES
It's War Article by Hamilton Octavio da Souza in Brazzil, February 2001
BOOKS
(posted by Roland Soong, 11/16/2001)
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