Uma análise das “brigas de bairro” juiz-foranas enquanto ritos de passagem: a pertinência da qualificadora do motivo torpe

Abstract

The city of Juiz de Fora, in the Mata development region, in the state of Minas Gerais, showed in the years 2012 to 2017 an unexplained high in its homicide rate. One of the main causes of this crime is the rivalry between gangs in the city's neighborhoods, which is considered an vile motive in local judgments. The murders that occurred due to this motivation, in the region of Juiz de Fora, are mostly committed by youths of approximately 18 years old, residents of neighborhoods rivaling those of the victims, often occurring in the presence of girls also living in these neighborhoods. The analysis of the crimes committed by "neighborhood fights" draws attention to the similarities between the participants with gang members, presented by Whyte (2005), and the elements inherent to the cases of "rites of passage" demonstrated by Gennep (2011). The circumstances surrounding homicides motivated by those fights show that the qualifier of the vile motive should not be applied to these cases, given the influence of these cultural traits on the communities in which the young participants in the “neighborhood fights” are inserted.