Pacification program in the Brazilian favelas; the effects of ‘Mano Dura’ policy on citizen (in)security

The pacification program that was initiated in the city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil prior to the World Cup 2014 got global media coverage due to the high amount of violence that come with it. The goal of the program is to make the favelas of Rio de Janeiro an safer living environment, where there would be no more criminal violence and drug-related activities. These poor neighborhoods would be safe and secure living environments, under the control of local police units, instead of criminal gangs. Unfortunately, the high amount of crime and violence is still present in these favelas and the pacification program appeared to have done more damage than good. The police and military units used extremely violent measures to control these criminal gangs, which created a lot of anger towards them by the society. Thereby, it led to an increasing distrust between the citizens and governmental agencies. Thereby, citizens of all social classes joint forces in order to protest against the...Show moreThe pacification program that was initiated in the city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil prior to the World Cup 2014 got global media coverage due to the high amount of violence that come with it. The goal of the program is to make the favelas of Rio de Janeiro an safer living environment, where there would be no more criminal violence and drug-related activities. These poor neighborhoods would be safe and secure living environments, under the control of local police units, instead of criminal gangs. Unfortunately, the high amount of crime and violence is still present in these favelas and the pacification program appeared to have done more damage than good. The police and military units used extremely violent measures to control these criminal gangs, which created a lot of anger towards them by the society. Thereby, it led to an increasing distrust between the citizens and governmental agencies. Thereby, citizens of all social classes joint forces in order to protest against the government and the pacification program. The results suggest that the Brazilian government took the wrong policy by choosing to solve violence with violence. With the program existing already for many years, nowadays the criminal gangs are still in control in large areas of the favelas and are willing to fight the police. The study supports the view that the government should take more peaceful methods, since these proof to be more effective and have a positive result. Whereas the more violent approach, by following the hard lined - “Mano Dura” strategy as other Latin American states did, leads to continuing violence and an failed attempt to resolve the problem.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

Pacification program in the Brazilian favelas; the effects of ‘Mano Dura’ policy on citizen (in)security