Vigilante justice is growing in many countries in Latin America, including Mexico, and a new study by the Latin American Public Opinion Project helps explain why.
As criminal violence has become all too common, ordinary citizens have increasingly taken matters into their own hands by attacking those they suspect of criminal behavior. Trust in others might seem an unlikely stimulus for such behavior, but that is precisely what the new study from Vanderbilt University indicates.
Social capital – the attitudes and values that shape how individuals relate to each other – has long been considered a strength of democracy. However, the new study suggests that when high interpersonal trust is coupled with low confidence in law enforcement institutions, social capital can take on a dark side, as demonstrated by the kind of vigilante justice that has become common in Mexico.
In a report prepared for the Insights series produced by the Latin American Public Opinion Project, Daniel Zizumbo-Colunga notes that strong interpersonal trust has long been considered crucial to a well-functioning democracy, in that “social capital is believed to promote government accountability and responsiveness … allows individuals in a community to interact with each other without the need for external authorities policing relations and agreements … and facilitates interpersonal interactions by promoting a belief that people will act in their best interests.”
However, [rquote]Zizumbo-Colunga argues that under certain conditions “social capital can produce attitudes that are inherently problematic for democracy.[/rquote] Specifically … high levels of interpersonal trust can lead to greater support for non-sanctioned citizen-administered justice – when it appears alongside a lack of confidence in state law enforcement institutions.”
He notes the increase of vigilantism in Mexico as the Mexican government has struggled to control the violence associated with drug trafficking. As an example, he cites the 2004 case in which two police officers in Mexico City’s Tlahuac neighborhood were beaten and burned alive by an angry mob convinced that the officers were part of organized crime. He also notes that members of a Mormon community have opted to arms themselves in self-defense following a number of threats and murders that have put their community in danger.
LAPOP’s AmericasBarometer survey of public opinion in Mexico found in 2008 that approximately 20 percent of respondents openly express support for vigilante justice.
Zizumbo-Colunga’s study concludes that “the effect of interpersonal trust on support for vigilante justice is contingent on the confidence that citizens allocate to the institutions in charge of law and order.”
The study also suggests that “social capital itself can serve as a modifier of the effect of attitudes toward the state. … Confidence in state law enforcement institutions only influences attitudes supporting citizen-administered justice for those with high levels of social capital.”
[lquote]The amount of the insecurity perceived in a neighborhood is another significant predictor of support for taking justice into one’s own hands.[/lquote] “This, in conjunction with the results regarding trust in law enforcing institutions, underscores the importance of building state justice institutions that are not only perceived as effective but indeed do reduce feelings of insecurity among citizens.”
To increase confidence in state law enforcement, measures must be taken to increase and ensure strict respect for human rights; to battle corruption within the institutions and increase accountability; and to develop programs that “make law enforcement institutions more effective at preventing and punishing crime.”
In researching his paper, Zizumbo-Colunga used data from the AmericasBarometer’s 2004, 2006 and 2008 surveys. The surveys are conducted every two years by the Latin American Public Opinion Project at Vanderbilt University. LAPOP was founded in the 1970s by Mitchell A. Seligson, Vanderbilt University Centennial Professor of Political Science and LAPOP director, to conduct scientific surveys of Latin American citizens about their opinions and behaviors related to building and strengthening democracies. It functions as a consortium of academic partners throughout the hemisphere. The AmericasBarometer survey has expanded so that in 2010 it includes 26 nations in Central America, the Caribbean, South America and North America. Major funding comes from the United State Agency for International Development, the Inter-American Development Bank and the United Nations Development Programme.
Media Contact: Elizabeth Latt, (615) 322-NEWS
elizabeth.p.latt@vanderbilt.edu