Turf war in Rio de Janeiro: Youth, drug traffic, guns and hyper-masculinity

Abstract

This article presents trends in homicide rates in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by discussing the dynamics of social life in the poorest areas of the city, often characterized by youth violence, guns and drug trafficking. The study begins by examining how patterns of socio-economic inequality relate to youth deaths, but goes beyond the common assumed link between homicide and poverty. The city has experienced a sharp increase in homicide rates since the 1980s as irregular or subnormal dwellings (the so-called favelas) expanded in Rio de Janeiro. However, as argued in this article, such development cannot fully account for the increase in homicides in Rio. More likely to contribute to this outcome was the development of new forms of criminal business that affected informal markets, transforming them into gateways for criminal set-ups. Trafficking gangs began to dominate some favelas whilst drug lords restricted dweller and government agent movements in others. Armed mobs appeared and militias were formed. Young males have been the most common victims of homicides under these warlike conditions. Finally, this chapter concludes by discussing changes in current crime prevention policies: better schooling, better professional training for those working in the favelas and sports and cultural programmes in which different generations socialize should be the focus of long-term interventions to ensure that young males are not killed prematurely. In the short term, gun-oriented policing and an effective investigative police force are also much in need.