Socialisation through violence: Exposure to neighbourhood and police violence and the development of legitimacy beliefs among adolescents

• In Event: National and International perspectives on organized crime

Abstract

Objectives: Examine the legal socialization of adolescents aged 11 to 14 years in São Paulo, Brazil, a city characterized by high crime rates, police violence, and the presence of organized crime. Assess the extent to which exposure to neighbourhood and police violence and aggression influence adolescents’ developmental trajectories of beliefs about the legitimacy of the law
Methods: A cohort-based, four-wave longitudinal survey of 2005-born adolescents living in São Paulo was fielded between 2016 and measured respondents’ perceptions of legal legitimacy, their exposures to neighbourhood and police violence, and police contact. Analysis is carried out using latent growth curve models.
Results: Developmental trajectories of legitimacy beliefs follow a curved shape, peaking at age 13 and then decreasing slightly. Being involuntarily stopped by the police, witnessing people selling drugs on the street, or witnessing police officers assaulting a suspect between waves are all negatively associated with changes in legal legitimacy beliefs.
Conclusions: Proximity to areas dominated by organised crime and exposure to police violence and aggression could undermine the development of beliefs about the legitimacy of the law. Exposure to some types of neighbourhood violence might be too frequent in São Paulo and do not influence the legal socialization of young adolescents in this context.

Authors

• Jonathan Jackson, London School of Economics

• Thiago Oliveira, University of Manchester