Urban violence and social capital in a southern Brazilian city : a quantitative and qualitative study

Objetivo. Investigar as relacoes entre a violencia urbana referida e capital social em uma cidade de medio porte no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Metodos. O estudo foi realizado com adultos da zona urbana de Sao Leopoldo. Na etapa quantitativa, um questionario estruturado foi respondido por 1 100 pessoas maiores de 20 anos responsaveis pelo domicilio no momento da entrevista. A violencia foi avaliada com base nas referencias a discussao violenta, roubo ou assalto, caso com drogas e homicidio ocorridos no bairro nos ultimos 6 meses. O capital social foi definido a partir do grau relatado de confianca entre vizinhos, apoio social, controle social informal, percepcao politica e acao social nos bairros avaliados. Na etapa qualitativa, foi realizada uma entrevista semiestruturada com 11 participantes, residentes nos setores com o capital social mais alto e mais baixo. Resultados. Os residentes em bairros com baixa confianca entre vizinhos relataram uma ocorrencia quase 3 vezes maior de homicidios (RP = 2,82; IC95%: 1,67 a 4,74; P > 0,001) e de discussao violenta (RP = 2,56; IC95%: 1,82 a 3,59; P > 0,001) em comparacao aos moradores de bairros com alta confianca entre vizinhos. As situacoes relacionadas a violencia foram mais enfatizadas em vizinhancas com baixo capital social, nas quais tambem foi referido o descaso publico. Conclusoes. Em vizinhancas com maior capital social, menores percentuais de violencia foram referidos. E importante priorizar politicas publicas que promovam o capital social voltado ao bem comum.Objective. To study the relationship between reported urban violence and social capital in a medium-sized city in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Methods. The study was carried out with adults living in the urban area of Sao Leopoldo. For the quantitative analysis, a structured questionnaire was answered by 1 100 individuals older than 20 years of age and in charge of the household at the moment of the interview. Violence was evaluated based on the reports of violent arguments, theft or robbery, drug-related events, and homicides in the neighborhood over the previous six months. Social capital was defined based on the reported degree of trust among neighbors, informal social control, opinions on the actions of government and politicians, and social action in the neighborhoods. For the qualitative analysis, 11 participants residing in the area with the lowest or with the highest social capital answered a semi-structured interview. Results. People living in low-trust neighborhoods reported higher rates of homicide (OR = 2.82; 95%CI: 1.67. 4.74; P > 0.001) and violent arguments (OR = 2.56; 95%CI: 1.82.3.59; P > 0.001) than people living in high-trust neighborhoods. Violent situations were reported most often in neighborhoods with low social capital, in which a lack of government attention was also reported. Conclusions. In neighborhoods with the highest social capital, the prevalence of reported violence was lower. Priority should be given to public policies that promote social capital for the common good