Expressions of authoritarianism in Facebook before the salience of news about crime in Peru

José José Román,Harry Michael Lewis,Agustin Espinosa

doi:10.22235/cp.v15i2.2439

José José Román, Harry Michael Lewis + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.22235/cp.v15i2.2439

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Abstract

Under a context of public insecurity, the present study aims to analyse comments expressed in news about criminal acts published on the web pages of the main national newspapers during 2015. Comments were subject to content analysis and two analytical axes identified: (a) The expression of authoritarian beliefs and the implications of these beliefs for perceptions of offenders, and (b) a lack of trust in the public institutions of justice and its link with authoritarian response to criminality. The analysis of comments reveals a strong tendency towards endorsements of violent actions in dealing with crime supported by an authoritarian ideology. It was also found that distrust in the public institutions of justice is linked to support for extreme measures in order to eliminate the perceived threat. Limitations and suggestions for further research are discussed.

Highlights

Under a context of public insecurity, the present study aims to analyse comments expressed in news about criminal acts published on the web pages of the main national newspapers during 2015
The second most prominent type of comments identified were those criticising the effectiveness of public institutions, especially the Judiciary, congress and the PNP
This investigation will critically consider these comments along two axes of analysis; firstly, the ways in which authoritarianism manifests through discourse and the implications for public perceptions of the offender figure will be discussed

Summary

Introduction

Under a context of public insecurity, the present study aims to analyse comments expressed in news about criminal acts published on the web pages of the main national newspapers during 2015. The perception of insecurity refers to the fear of crime in the abstract, as a concern about crime as a social problem (Vozmediano, San Juan & Vergara, 2008). It is a mental representation, often socially reproduced, about the extent to which criminality poses a threat generally, and can vary according to the social group to which one belongs. Fear of crime has been shown to have an impact on individuals’ attitudes, generating increased levels of support for punitive measures and violent action directed against individuals perceived as delinquent, such as the use of corporal punishment as a means of ‘correction’ (Armborst, 2017)

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