Cross-Cultural Blog

with regards to the empowering women abstract:

We recall one woman in particular who had very strong opinions. She was forceful in stating that the gangs were more effective at enforcing and providing for the community than police or other legal methods.

The paper sounds interesting. Which examples did you use? Can we see the real paper? We were intrigued by the idea that women's power only comes into play when their husbands are incarcerated.

How did you address the role of women and mothers and nurturers? Do you place any blame on the women in society for the high rate of crime? How can you raise your children to avoid a society run by gangs?

What about the mother who was sending her daughters to school and dance lessons? Do her daughters have a chance of avoiding the gang scene?

What of the mother who said the gangs help get things done quickly? One said she could not have acquired medication without the help of the gang.

I'm very intrigued by your thesis and especially by the idea of comparing Rio de Janeiro to the success of Sao Paolo. I'm wondering, however, what the similarities are between these cities. For instance, are the demographics enough alike that the programs of Sao Paolo would be just as successful in Rio de Janeiro? We are also really intrigued by your research into the repercussions of the documentary and the recent study by the United Nations Office of Drug and Crime. Your claim that Brazil improved economically as a result of a decrease in corruption resonates with us as well as we were considering how an economy based on drug dealing could possibly thrive. Thanks for sharing with us.

We felt that while the documentary portrayed women as being powerless outside of emotional appeal (clips of mothers testifying to the good nature of the drug dealers for providing aid and/or medicine), the abstract suggests that women may have a more important role in the family through their labor. One of these roles is to support the family when the main provider is incarcerated. However, the abstract also addresses the fact that women labor is limited because there is not much work outside of drug dealing. In light of that, we would like to see the paper address how women can provide for their families in their husbands' absences when their roles in the workforce are clearly limited by the kinds of work available.

Children have few options besides living in poverty or trying to escape it by joining a gang.
Although we agree that their mothers cannot change this, this does not reflect any form of sexism within the documentary, because neither can the fathers change the fate of their children. Their fate is tied to the socioeconomic situation, not parenting. Therefore the claim that the documentary is sexist or misrepresenting mothers in any way is debatable. We believe that the analysis also neglects two roles that females play in the favelas. The first is their role in protecting their husbands and sons from being abused by police during arrests or raids, which is vividly evidenced in the scene where the trail of mothers follow the suspect to prevent any surreptitious police abuse. The second role that women play in the favelas is how they fuel the perception of drug dealers as positive forces on society, as they accept the medication and other benefits from the drug dealers.

This sounds like a very interesting paper--too bad we couldn't see the whole thing. We would love to hear what proposals you came up with in regards to mending to the political structure to help find a solution to the urban crime issue. Could you summarize your conclusion, especially in regards to your proposed solution?

We wish we had the opportunity to see your conclusions on the differences between crime in Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro. Specifically, we're curious about the impact the political system had on enforcement and how crime has affected the economy.

What additional resources did you hope to utilize for your paper?

Hi everyone! My paper was then one that dealt with the effect of urban crime and violence on the politics of Brazil. Unfortunatly, reliable information isn't easy to get. I will post my conclusion in a separate comment. I hope that will answer some of your questions. If you have any more I will try to answer them to the best of my ability. I will also be more than grateful to anyone who comes across any information regarding this topic to let me know about it. Thanks!

CONCLUSION:

Finally, to sum up, Brazil is a very difficult country to analyze politically for several reasons. Firstly, its federative nature makes it hard to unify. Secondly, even though it is a relatively stable country, it is still a developing one which means it is prone to changes and fluctuations. However, some conclusions can be made. The Brazilian government has attempted to combat urban crime in a couple of ways, but funding is low and it’s not an easy task. Nonetheless, according to the article “Not as Violent as You Thought”, the murder rate in the state of Rio de Janeiro has declined from 64 per 100 thousand to 39 per 100 thousand from the mid-1990s until last year. Combined with the high increase in police killings in the recent years in Rio, these statistics give very confusing evidence. Taking into account the recent economic boom of the state of Rio, it has the potential and possibility of implementing several different social programs that could make a difference such as the ones in Sao Paolo.Finally, to sum up, Brazil is a very difficult country to analyze politically for several reasons. Firstly, its federative nature makes it hard to unify. Secondly, even though it is a relatively stable country, it is still a developing one which means it is prone to changes and fluctuations. However, some conclusions can be made. The Brazilian government has attempted to combat urban crime in a couple of ways, but funding is low and it’s not an easy task. Nonetheless, according to the article “Not as Violent as You Thought”, the murder rate in the state of Rio de Janeiro has declined from 64 per 100 thousand to 39 per 100 thousand from the mid-1990s until last year. Combined with the high increase in police killings in the recent years in Rio, these statistics give very confusing evidence. Taking into account the recent economic boom of the state of Rio, it has the potential and possibility of implementing several different social programs that could make a difference such as the ones in Sao Paolo.

Just a small comment concerning the economy. I said that the economic improvements occured in Rio de Janeiro, not all of Brazil. Is there anything in particular you wanted to know about that aspect?