Criminal impunity and trust in institutions

• Grant number: 14/01023-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Effective date (Start): April 01, 2014
• Effective date (End): March 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - Public Policies
• Principal Investigator: Sergio França Adorno de Abreu
• Grantee: Andre Zanetic
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07923-7 - Center of the Study of Violence - NEV/USP, AP.CEPID

Abstract

The concern with trust in public institutions and the construction of the legitimacy of democratic institutions is a subject that has long been present among researchers in different areas. The issue of legitimacy has motivated scholars of crime and violence trends to focus on the investigation of the connection between factors such as criminal activities, trust in institutions and social order, exploring empirical connections between institutional and political legitimacy, the commission of crimes and impunity, in different international contexts. Despite the little (though consistent) evidence of the high level of criminal impunity founded in some Brazilian cities and the data from some victimization surveys that show the low level of confidence that people have in law and order institutions (especially the police), there is no clear empirical picture as to the connection between the two aspects.With this question as the backdrop, our objective is to analyze the different perceptions that people have of criminal impunity and how this perception impacts their assessment of the laws and the sectors responsible for ensuring order and safety in the society within which they are set. In a broader sense, the relationship between the perception of criminal impunity and the population's confidence in democratic institutions and their legitimacy will also be examined. Other hypotheses present in the specialized literature, such as the influence of faith in institutions and in the virtue of the laws as factors inhibiting the practice of illegal activities - and other structural and contextual aspects that influence these dynamics - will also be analyzed and discussed. (AU)