Abstract
What are the factors behind citizen support for the use of extralegal violence in Latin America? The prevailing argument is that, in countries overwhelmed by skyrocketing levels of criminal violence, people endorse the use of extralegal violence as a way to cope with insecurity. Other scholars believe that support for extralegal violence is the result of state withdrawal and failure. Few empirical studies, however, have tested any of these arguments. In this article, using regional data from the 2012 AmericasBarometer, we examine different explanations regarding citizen support for the utilization of extralegal violence in Latin America and the Caribbean. We developed a multi-item scale that gauges support for different forms of extralegal violence across the Americas, and we hypothesize that support for extralegal violence is higher not only in countries with extreme levels of violence but especially in countries in which people distrust the political system. Results indicate that support for extralegal violence is significantly higher in societies characterized by little support for the existing political system.
Highlights
¿Cuáles son los factores que determinan el apoyo ciudadano al uso de la violencia extralegal en América Latina? El argumento predominante es que en países con niveles altos de violencia criminal, las personas apoyan el uso de la violencia extralegal como un mecanismo para hacer frente a la inseguridad
Latin American countries have experienced an increase in violence and crime over the past thirty years, with homicides, robberies, and drug-related violence becoming a central concern for policy makers and citizens alike (Bergman 2006; Imbusch, Misse, and Carrión 2011)
Homicide rates are positively and significantly related to support for violence
Summary
More than the actual levels of crime or violence affecting a country or a given locality, the levels of fear and insecurity experienced by citizens are what can help predict their approval and exercise of extralegal violence. According to Caldeira and Holston (1999), fear of crime may increase citizens’ support for self-help justice such as lynching and vigilante groups, but it may create incentives encouraging the use of extralegal violence by state actors. As they express it, this reaction may seem paradoxical, as “people usually want the police—whom they fear and accuse of being violent—to be violent ‘toward the side that deserves it,’ even though they know that the police routinely aggrieve innocent people” (Caldeira and Holston 1999, 712). This reality is present in countries such as the Dominican Republic, where citizens consistently report high levels of distrust toward the police for their alleged corruption and arbitrariness, but approve or tolerate bending the law to capture criminals (Bobea 2011).
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