Favela justice : a study of social control and dispute resolution in a Brazilian shantytown
Abstract
This study examined the mechanisms of social control in one shantytown
in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil through the observation of the process of
dispute resolution. While all types of disputes were observed, observations were
concentrated on the resolution of property disputes because of the availability of
multiple means of resolution for these disputes. It specifically sought to
understand the factors that influence a person’s choice of one means of dispute
resolution as opposed to another and process of dispute resolution of each of the
chosen means. Extensive participant observation, interviews and focus groups
over a period of seventeen months were used to examine the use of four distinct
means of dispute resolution in the field site, a small claims court, a legal aid
project, the city government office and organized drug gangs operating in the
shantytown. These were chosen in order to compare the use and effectiveness of
legal and non-legal means of dispute resolution. The study found that residents
sought out a third party based on their perceptions of the seriousness of the
dispute, defined most often by the way in which the other party attended to the
original grievance. Choice of a particular third party was a factor of the
relationship between the disputants, their social networks, perceptions of the
legitimacy or effectiveness of the third party and the ease of disputant access of
the third party. Success in the resolution of the dispute was dependant on the
relationship between the disputants and the degree of authoritative intervention of
the third party. In disputes where disputants were unwilling to mediate, only
those third parties with greater degrees of authoritative intervention, either
through community influence, technical knowledge or threat of the use of force,
were successful at resolving disputes. Understanding the successes and failures of
dispute resolution by both legal and non-legal means contributed to the better
understanding of the social process as a whole.
Department
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