Crime and violence in Brazil: Systematic review of time trends, prevalence rates and risk factors.

Between 1980 and 2010 there were 1 million homicides in Brazil. Dramatic increases in homicide rates followed rises in inequality, more young men in the population, greater availability of firearms, and increased drug use. Nevertheless, disarmament legislation may have helped reduce homicide rates in recent years. Despite its very high rate of lethal violence, Brazil appears to have similar levels of general criminal victimization as several other Latin American and North American countries. Brazil has lower rates of drug use compared to other countries such as the United States, but the prevalence of youth drug use in Brazil has increased substantially in recent years. Since 1990, the growth of the Brazilian prison population has been enormous, resulting in the fourth largest prison population in the world. Through a systematic review of the literature, we identified 10 studies assessing the prevalence of self-reported offending in Brazil and 9 studies examining risk factors. Levels of self-reported offending seem quite high among school students in Brazil. Individual and family-level risk factors identified in Brazil are very similar to those found in high-income countries.

[Linking of information from health and security databases on homicides]. / Informações sobre homicídios e sua integração com o setor saúde e segurança pública.

OBJECTIVE: Increased homicide rates in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, in the last two decades points out to the need for better understanding this subject. The purpose of the present study was to link information about homicide from different sources of data. METHODS: Homicide data from death certificates, medical examiners and police records of residents in the city of Sao Paulo was linked for the second semester of 2001. Variables about victims, risk factors and homicide circumstances were analyzed using absolute numbers, proportions and coefficients. Statistical differences were tested using Pearson's Chi-square test. RESULTS: Homicide crude rate was 57.2/100,000. Higher rates were observed among men aged 15 to 29 years (56.0% of all cases). The proportion of firearm-related homicides was 88.6%, higher among men than women. Most injuries were to the head (68.9%). Among the victims who underwent to drug screening, 42.5% had high blood alcohol concentrations (44.0% for men and 24.0% for women). Most events occurred at night during weekends and it was found a high correlation (74.6%) between the victim's place of residence and event location. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings highlight that linking information provides better quality of data and allows for better understanding of homicides.

Reducing the legal blood alcohol concentration limit for driving in developing countries: a time for change? Results and implications derived from a time-series analysis (2001-10) conducted in Brazil.

AIMS: In Brazil, a new law introduced in 2008 has lowered the blood alcohol concentration limit for drivers from 0.06 to 0.02, but the effectiveness in reducing traffic accidents remains uncertain. This study evaluated the effects of this enactment on road traffic injuries and fatalities. DESIGN: Time-series analysis using autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) modelling. SETTING: State and capital of São Paulo, Brazil. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1,471,087 non-fatal and 51,561 fatal road traffic accident cases in both regions. MEASUREMENTS: Monthly rates of traffic injuries and fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants from January 2001 to June 2010. FINDINGS: The new traffic law was responsible for significant reductions in traffic injury and fatality rates in both localities (P<0.05). A stronger effect was observed for traffic fatality (-7.2 and -16.0% in the average monthly rate in the State and capital, respectively) compared to traffic injury rates (-1.8 and -2.3% in the State and capital, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Lowering the blood alcohol concentration limit in Brazil had a greater impact on traffic fatalities than injuries, with a higher effect in the capital, where presumably the police enforcement was enhanced.

Alcohol consumption in homicide victims in the city of São Paulo.

AIMS: To assess the association between alcohol use and victimization by homicide in individuals autopsied at the Institute of Legal Medicine in São Paulo, Brazil. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Excessive consumption of alcohol is a serious public health issue and a major factor in triggering violent situations, which suggests a strong association between alcohol ingestion and becoming a victim of homicide. PARTICIPANTS: Data from 2042 victims of homicides in 2005 were obtained from medical examiner reports. MEASUREMENTS: The victim's gender, age, ethnicity and blood alcohol concentration (BAC) were collected. The method of death and homicide circumstances, as well as the date, time and place of death were also studied. FINDINGS: Alcohol was detected in blood samples of 43% of the victims, and mean BAC levels were 1.55 +/- 0.86 g/l. The prevalence of positive BAC levels was higher among men (44.1%) than women (26.6%), P < 0.01. Firearms caused most of the deaths (78.6%), and alcohol consumption was greater among victims of homicide by sharp weapons (P < 0.01). A greater proportion of victims with positive BAC were killed at weekends compared to weekdays (56.4 and 38.5%, respectively; P < 0.01), and the correlation between homicide rates and the average BAC for the central area of the city was positive (r(s) = 0.90; P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These results highlight alcohol as a contributing factor for homicide victimization in the greatest urban center in South America, supporting public strategies and future research aiming to prevent homicides and violence related to alcohol consumption.

Obstáculos às políticas de segurança na América Latina / Obstacles to the security policies in Latin America

Este artigo foi escrito para uma série de palestras ministradas em Washington D.C. para técnicos do BID em 2007. Tem como objetivo contextualizar o significado de atuar na prevenção à criminalidade e na esfera da segurança pública na América Latina, dada a trajetória recente de regimes autoritários no continente, o modelo de desenvolvimento econômico e urbano adotado na região e os traços culturais específicos dessas populações. O texto é um alerta para todos os organismos que iniciam trabalho na área sobre algumas peculiaridades do que é fazer polícia na região e sobre os cuidados necessários ao tentar adotar modelos de conduta e instituições criadas em outras regiões.

Informações sobre homicídios e sua integração com o setor saúde e segurança pública / Linking of information from health and security databases on homicides

OBJETIVO: O aumento verificado nas taxas de homicídios aponta para a necessidade de melhorar a compreensão do problema. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi conhecer as informações adicionais acerca da mortalidade por homicídios provenientes de diferentes fontes de dados. MÉTODOS: Foram analisados os dados de homicídios entre residentes do Município de São Paulo, para o segundo semestre de 2001 obtidos nas declarações de óbito, laudos de necropsia e boletins de ocorrência policial. As informações foram analisadas sob a forma de números absolutos, proporções e coeficientes. Para a verificação de diferenças estatísticas foi utilizado o teste do qui-quadrado de Pearson. RESULTADOS: O coeficiente de homicídios foi 57,2/100.000, sendo que os valores mais altos foram encontrados entre os homens na faixa de 15 a 29 anos. O percentual do uso de armas de fogo foi 88,6 por cento, mais alto entre homens que em mulheres. A localização anatômica de lesões mais freqüentes foi a cabeça (68,9 por cento). Entre as vítimas que tiveram o exame toxicológico realizado, 42,5 por cento tinham feito uso de álcool (44 por cento para os homens e 24 por cento nas mulheres). Há maior concentração de ocorrências nos finais de semana no horário noturno. Em 74,6 por cento dos óbitos, as vítimas residiam próximas ou no mesmo local de ocorrência do evento. CONCLUSÕES: Os achados do estudo apontam que a integração de dados permite melhorar a qualidade da informação, contribuindo para a compreensão dos homicídios.