Racial Democracy and Black Victimization in Brazil

• Author: Leonardo C. B. Cardoso,Daniel R. C. Cerqueira,Danilo S. C. Coelho,Bruno Truzzi,Viviani S. Lirio
• Date: 01 February 2022
• Published date: 01 February 2022
• DOI: 10.1177/10439862211038448
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/10439862211038448

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

2022, Vol. 38(1) 13 –33

© The Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/10439862211038448

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Article

Racial Democracy and Black

Victimization in Brazil

Bruno Truzzi1, Viviani S. Lirio2,

Daniel R. C. Cerqueira3, Danilo S. C. Coelho3,

and Leonardo C. B. Cardoso2

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to quantify racial victimization differential between

Blacks and Whites in Brazil, focusing on homicides and physical assaults. Combining

socioeconomic data from the Brazilian Household Survey with data from the Mortality

Information System, we apply the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition to isolate the

racial discrimination component from the social indicators correlated with homicides

and physical assaults. Findings indicate that only part of the victimization differential

between Blacks and Whites is explained by structural attributes. A significant portion

of this differential (at least 40%) for both homicides and physical assaults persists as

evidence of racial discrimination. In addition, both for homicides and physical assaults, a

more discriminatory scenario is observed in the North and Northeast regions of Brazil,

regions historically characterized by higher social inequalities and violent mortality.

Keywords

victimization, homicide, physical assault, racial discrimination, probability

Introduction

Violence is an endemic problem in Brazil. In 2018, Brazil lost approximately

57,956 lives due to homicides, representing a rate of 27.8 deaths per 100,000 popu-

lation. In addition, between 2008 and 2018, the homicide rate grew by approxi-

mately 14.4% in the country (Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada–Fórum

1University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil

2Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, Brazil

3Institute for Applied Economic Research, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

Corresponding Author:

Bruno Truzzi, Institute of Economics, University of Campinas, 353 Pitágoras Street, Barão Geraldo,

Campinas, São Paulo, 13083-857, Brazil.

Email: btruzzi13@gmail.com

1038448CCJXXX10.1177/10439862211038448Journal of Contemporary Criminal JusticeTruzzi et al.

research-article2021

14 Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 38(1)

Brasileiro de Segurança Pública [IPEA-FBSP], 2020). Another face of the violent

scene in the country, about 2.5 million people suffered some aggression in 2009

(Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística [IBGE], 2010). This conflicting sce-

nario makes Brazil one of the countries with the highest homicide rates in the world

(IPEA-FBSP, 2018) and, therefore, a relevant case for the international literature on

the subject.

Victims of violence against physical integrity (homicides and physical assaults)

have a very specific profile in Brazil. It is concentrated in the male population, espe-

cially in young individuals, with lower income and education levels, and with Black1

ethnic-racial identity (IBGE, 2010; IPEA-FBSP, 2018, 2020). In 2018, the homicide

rate for Blacks (37.8 homicides per 100,000 Black inhabitants) exceeded 2.7 times the

homicide rate of non-Blacks (13.9 homicides per 100,000 non-Black inhabitants).

Between 2008 and 2018, the homicide rate for Blacks increased by 11.5%, whereas the

rate for non-Blacks decreased by 12.9% (IPEA-FBSP, 2020). In addition, the North

and Northeast regions concentrate the highest homicide rates for Blacks in Brazil

(IPEA-FBSP, 2020; Waiselfisz, 2016). Physical assault is 38% more frequent among

Blacks than among Whites (IBGE, 2010). Therefore, all these numbers point in the

same direction: violence is an endemic problem in Brazil and it is an even greater

problem for the Black population.

This evidence supports the argument against a nation founded on principles of a

racial democracy in Brazil, as postulated by Freyre (1933, 1936). Since then, many

Brazilian scholars have rejected this concept (Adorno, 1996; Hasenbalg, 1979; Valle

Silva, 1980; Vargas, 2004). The main objective of this study is to identify and quan-

tify the racial victimization differential between Blacks and Whites in Brazil. To

achieve this goal, we combine data from the 2009 Brazilian Household Survey

(PNAD/IBGE) with the data from the Mortality Information System (SIM/MS) for

the same period, based on Cerqueira and Coelho (2015). Then, we apply the Oaxaca–

Blinder decomposition methodology for nonlinear models, isolating the racial dis-

crimination component from the characteristics and social indicators correlated with

homicides and physical assaults.

This study contributes to the criminological literature on violence and racial

discrimination in three aspects. First, we build on the study done by Phillips (2002),

who was the first to apply the Oaxaca decomposition for linear models to the racial

homicide differential. Here, we propose the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition for

nonlinear models. Second, we use the database merger between the SIM/MS homi-

cide microdata and socioeconomic information from the Brazilian Census proposed

by Cerqueira and Coelho (2015) for a new problem: the joint analysis of homicides

and physical assaults. Third, our approach allows us to identify the contribution of

the individual, socioeconomic, and location characteristics to the racial victimiza-

tion differential in Brazil, both at the national and regional levels.

The following section explores the theoretical and empirical literature required to

support our analysis. The third section presents the methodology. Results, discussions,

and conclusions are provided in the last two sections.