ABSTRACT
Why is Rio de Janeiro not more violent? In early 2004, gang violence in Rio de Janeiro was again in the world’s headlines; it was leading to deaths among police, drug-trafficking suspects and bystanders, was altering traffic patterns and was leading to pressure on policymakers to do something-anything. Some policy-makers suggested building high walls around the favelas or slums to keep the violence or the favelas from encroaching on middle-class neighbourhoods. More enlightened voices complained of a corrupt and poorly trained police force and of the lack of opportunities for the young men involved in the drug-related violence. Eventually the military was called in to ‘restore order’ in one neighbourhood where violence was particularly intense.
