Insecurity implications in a middle size city in western São Paulo State, Brazil: the casin of Presidente Prudente

• Grant number: 11/01912-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2011
• End date: October 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Geography - Human Geography
• Principal Investigator: Eda Maria Góes
• Grantee: Ana Cláudia Nogueira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Presidente Prudente. Presidente Prudente , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The effort to understand violence in the contemporary society as well as its influence in the spatial organisation of cities is a challenge due to the complexity and diversity of the elements that violence contains. Considering that is current in our society to view poor neighbourhoods as "spaces of crime", we have decided to study two violent-stigmatised neighbourhoods in the periphery of Presidente Prudente, a city located in western São Paulo. We intend to identify the relations established by inhabitants with other areas and inhabitants of the city. We will consider the production of an argument of fear, which frequently tends to shape city residents' life. In the name of security, these residents decide both to attend specific places and to see people supposedly secure. Then, we want to identify the implications of the argument of fear, considering the role of written press. To do so, we accept that the press emphasises the existence of prisons in the region as well as prisoners' relatives that live in peripheral neighbourhoods. Finally, we will try to identify if the evangelist churches present in those neighbourhoods contribute to increase or decrease the prejudice. (AU)