Violence, Inequality, and Subjective Insecurity in Latin America

• In Event: The Subjective Perception of Inequality, Status, and Insecurity

Abstract

Latin American states have witnessed unprecedented levels of crime and violence alongside historic declines in income inequality, yet microlevel data reveal a paradox: surveys indicate weak or no relationship between the macrolevel prevalence of violent crime and microlevel perceptions of insecurity. This paper aims to explain this paradox and develops the hypothesis that individuals’ class identities shape sensitivity to and perceptions of crime and violence. Declining inequality is likely to generate status anxiety among traditional middle and upper classes, for whom violence can justify opposition to inequality-reducing policies. I test this argument with multilevel analysis of multiple sources of region-wide survey data. Though the political economy literature points to economic inequality as a cause of violent crime, this analysis draws attention to the ways that class identities and motivations may distort the relationship between macrolevel patterns of violence and subjective insecurity. Consequently, backlash politics of this sort may impact or undermine support for the inequality-reducing policies that may help stem violent crime.

Author

• David De Micheli, University of Utah