Violence from the perspective of community leaderships in Londrina, Paraná, Brazil

Abstract

Studies have shown that community mobilization is important to fight violence. This study identified the perceptions on violence among leaderships from two outskirt regions with different levels of community mobilization in Londrina, state of Paraná, Brazil. A qualitative approach was adopted, with content analysis of the data. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with leaderships identified through the "snowball" process, until saturation of answers was reached. Results showed that the leaderships' point of view is permeated by denial and naturalization of violence, and that violence is always something that comes from the "others" or from an external context. There was a strong convergence on delinquency in both communities, and illegal drug trafficking was perceived as its main grounds. Structural and cultural violences were more perceptible for the more mobilized community. Institutional violence was perceived by the two communities' leaderships, mainly by those from the more mobilized area. These results indicate that leaderships of a more mobilized community have a more comprehensive analysis of their social context and of the complexity of the problem.