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Stereotypes In Favelas

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Rio de Janeiro is characterized by the abundance of favelas, and these favelas are marked by the stereotypes that these are spaces filled with violence and overrun by drug gangs. Favelas are constantly “seen as prime symbols of difference” which “are by definition irregular and pathological” since they are not part of the ‘regular city’ (44, 12). It is important to consider the way that different identities, such as traficantes, police, and residents intersect and interact while examining life in a favela. The stereotypes that wider society have regarding favelas inform and influence the manner in which police do their job in favelas, and set the scene for the UPP policy. Additionally, local drug dealers use the enmity between residents and …show more content…

Drug traffickers in the favelas “took advantage of the state’s unwillingness” to provide safety and stability, and “[repressed] crime in favelas,” and also “harshly” reprimanded “anyone who cooperated with the police” (16). It is a common view throughout the favelas that “drug traffickers guaranteed safety while the police were criminals,” which perpetuates the stereotype that favelas are “fortresses for drug dealers” (37, 5). Many of the traficantes “were themselves from favelas” which allowed for the drug dealers to obtain power, since familial ties permeated all aspects of the morro (52). These close ties perpetuated the belief that the police brought violence and chaos to the favela, since the police were “the outsiders who disrupt an otherwise peaceful and harmonious… community” (38). The outside community, including the police, understood the favelas “distinct spaces cut off from the rest of the city,” but this is not a one sided belief (153). Residents of favelas also “tend to speak of the police as radically other,” which, combined with the idea that favelas are not ‘normal’ neighborhoods, deepens the discontent between favela residents and police

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