Abstract
Between 1980 and 2010 there were 1 million homicides in Brazil. Dramatic increases in homicide rates followed rises in inequality, more young men in the population, greater availability of firearms, and increased drug use. Nevertheless, disarmament legislation may have helped reduce homicide rates in recent years. Despite its very high rate of lethal violence, Brazil appears to have similar levels of general criminal victimization as several other Latin American and North American countries. Brazil has lower rates of drug use compared to other countries such as the United States, but the prevalence of youth drug use in Brazil has increased substantially in recent years. Since 1990, the growth of the Brazilian prison population has been enormous, resulting in the fourth largest prison population in the world. Through a systematic review of the literature, we identified 10 studies assessing the prevalence of self-reported offending in Brazil and 9 studies examining risk factors. Levels of self-reported offending seem quite high among school students in Brazil. Individual and family-level risk factors identified in Brazil are very similar to those found in high-income countries.
Highlights
In 2008, 535,000 people died by homicide worldwide and 95% of these deaths occurred in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) (World Health Organization, 2012)
We review epidemiological evidence on crime and violence in Brazil, a middle-income country with an extremely high homicide rate
It cannot be taken for granted that correlates of crime identified in high-income countries will replicate in Brazil
Summary
In 2008, 535,000 people died by homicide worldwide and 95% of these deaths occurred in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) (World Health Organization, 2012). Prisons, private security, public health, and loss of human capital (from premature deaths caused by violence), and personal loss from robbery and theft, the total cost of crime in Brazil was estimated to be R$92 billion in 2004, or 5.1% of GDP (Cerqueira, Carvalho, Lobão, & Rodrigues, 2007). Impoverished neighborhoods in Brazil do have high crime rates, they tend to have unusually high levels of social cohesion, unlike in North America As this example shows, it cannot be taken for granted that correlates of crime identified in high-income countries will replicate in Brazil. Much of what we review is difficult to access by international researchers given its publication in Portuguese in national reports or journals This issue of language may partly explain criminology's lack of focus on countries like Brazil, despite their high levels of serious violence. We hope that the current systematic review will help bring the problems of crime and violence in countries like Brazil closer to the hub of international criminological research
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