A spectrum surrounds small towns: the increase in violence and objective insecurity

Abstract

“Once upon a time there was a small town, quiet and safe in which the doors and windows were left open” represents a simple sentence, but it summarizes this paper. The freedom-security dialectic, in essence, is understood as the conditions that separate freedom from security when they should unite them to occur concurrently. So, in the name of security, windows and doors are closing in small towns! More than that, people are also closing in on sociability and space and public life. The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate the explanations for the increase in violence and objective insecurity in small towns. The methodological procedures were bibliographic survey about violence and objective insecurity; complementary surveys to understand the explanatory factors; fieldwork, systematization of information and collected data; and preparation of the final essay. The results revealed alarming and recurrent situations of violence in small towns, in addition to the generation of objective insecurity. The main explanatory factors for this phenomenon are the spread of illicit trafficking, especially drugs; the diffusion of the metropolitan way of life through the media; and the absence or insufficiency of public security services.