Between Consent and Coercion: An Analysis of Obedience Among Brazilian Adolescents

• In Event: Children and Youth Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 7: Open Topic on Children & Youth

Abstract

This study investigates the foundations of adolescents’ obedience to three authority figures—parents, teachers, and police officers—in São Paulo, Brazil. Drawing on legal socialization theory, we examine whether Brazilian adolescents relate to authority through consensual models (based on legitimacy and internalized values) or coercive models (based on fear of punishment). Using thematic analysis of open-ended responses from 800 eleven-year-old students in the São Paulo Legal Socialization Study, we analyze how adolescents justify their duty to obey different authorities. Findings reveal predominance of consensual orientation across all spheres (98.3% agree they should obey parents, 96.1% teachers, 91.7% police), though justifications vary significantly by authority type. Six analytical categories emerged: hierarchy and adult status as legitimacy foundations; motivations combining moral orientation, instrumental calculation, and coercive perception; benevolence and protection; reciprocity logic (particularly parental); resistance and critical agency; and differentiated perceptions across authority figures. Parental authority is legitimated through affective bonds, dependence, and reciprocity. School authority combines affective and institutional dimensions. Police authority appears most coercive and affectively distant, associated with fear and state punitive power. Results demonstrate that obedience among Brazilian adolescents constitutes complex social practice sustained by both consensual values and coercive mechanisms. While consensual discourse predominates, the centrality of hierarchical justifications and fear-based compliance with police suggests persistence of authoritarian socialization patterns. The study extends legal socialization theory to Latin American contexts, revealing how structural inequalities and democratic transitions shape legitimacy formation. Findings emphasize the importance of procedural justice in authority interactions for consolidating democratic values and voluntary compliance among youth.

Author

• Herbert Rodrigues, Missouri State University