ABSTRACT
Drawing on ethnographic data collected in Brazil, this chapter introduces some of the controversies associated with new security interventions that claim to reduce levels of homicide. It analyses accounts of dialogues among government officials, statisticians and high-ranking members of the military and civil police, which illustrate the social construction of crime and security as well as systemic tensions between policy and practice. The chapter also situates the research conducted in favelas and urban communities, revealing the diverse ways of perceiving such places. Finally, it shows that social science researchers of violence would benefit from engaging with southern theories and southern criminology.
