Abstract

DIKENSTEIN, Violeta. Local narratives of unsafety as a cognitive map. A study in the neighborhood of Barracas (City of Buenos Aires). Astrolabio [online]. 2022, n.29, pp.150-180. ISSN 1668-7515.  http://dx.doi.org/doi10.55441/1668.7515.n29.32694.

Abstract

The article addresses the local narratives on insecurity of the residents of a neighborhood in the south of the city of Buenos Aires. The characteristics of local narratives on the problem are analyzed from a qualitative analysis based on in-depth interviews, and from the perspective of the sociology of public problems. From then, this paper seeks to contribute to studies about perception of crime and unsafety, in a sort of double approach: on the one hand, recovering the contributions of studies on personal narratives, and on the other hand, as part of the sociology of public problems. However, by focusing on the local (not personal) narratives of a neighborhood (and not on a national scale), it delves into the way in which the actors weave narratives that give meaning and intelligibility to the problem. Thus, we find two antagonistic views, which draw differential diagnoses around the “villain” (the delinquent), the causes that generate the problem as well as those responsible for eradicating it and the measures to be implemented. We call them macro-social narratives about the problem and micro- and meso-social narratives.

Keywords : Unsafety; Crime; Social problem; Narratives; Social categories.

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