Political Engagement and Crime Victimization: A Causal Analysis

Abstract

In recent years, research has demonstrated that crime victimization serves as a catalyst to political engagement. However, much of this work has not addressed two key issues: 1) the true causality of this relationship, and 2) how victims’ identities and personal experiences might influence this relationship. This paper tackles these issues by testing the effect of victimization on non-electoral engagement using the Two-City, Six-Wave panel survey administered in Brazil between 2002 and 2006. It finds that the causal relationship between victimization and engagement only exists for participation in political party meetings. Furthermore, when exploring the role of individual identity and community context, only men, those who live in safe neighborhoods, and White Brazilians experience an increase in their engagement. Meanwhile, women, those in unsafe neighborhoods, and Afro-Brazilians do not experience such an increase. Those who have not experienced discrimination also increase their participation, while those who have experienced discrimination do not.

The legacy of Mexico's Drug War on youth political attitudes

“…However, some research has brought these relationships into question in recent years. Scholars suggest the effects of violence on important societal factors may affect individuals uniquely based on a variety of circumstances, including one's personal identity and community context (Brooks 2014;Laterzo 2021a;Ley 2018;Trelles and Carreras 2012). A more nuanced explanation of the effects of violence on political attitudes and behaviour is also documented in recent empirical studies that attempt to isolate the effects of specific types of violence.…”

“…The sample is representative of urban Mexico for our age group of interest. In addition to ensuring our sample was representative of common sociodemographic characteristics, such as income and education level, we also employed a unique strategy to ensure it is representative of the various levels of municipal violence across the country (García-Ponce et al 2023;Laterzo 2021b). Within this strategy we particularly considered three variables that capture variations in violence at this geographic level: homicide rates, reported non-homicide crime, and perceived levels of violence.…”