Sociability patterns in closed residential condominiums: The emergence of a lenient culture toward crime in Brazil

Abstract: Closed residential spaces, gated communities or residential condominiums are nowadays an expanding type of housing throughout the world. In Brazil, especially in large cities, the search for quality of life is usually associated with the search for safety through the control of people in places. However, the life in residential condominiums has been correlated with the appearance of new forms of antisocial behaviors and attitudes for transgression. This study presents the experience of living in residential condominiums and the emergence of unsociable behaviors by part of the dwellers. The central argument is that infractions practiced on a daily basis inside condominiums acquire relevance since they consolidate a culture of both transgression and lenience regarding social rules. This study interviewed dwellers of different types of condominiums throughout Brazil with the utilization of on-line questionnaires. The data was analyzed with the use of multidimensional analysis. The results revealed a belief that the social rules applied to the city are not necessarily valid to private spaces such as the closed condominiums. Accordingly, a great number of condo dwellers believe that they have the rights to make noisy at any time of the day, let children drive cars on the internal streets of the condo, allow pets to run free, and most important, do not  pay condo taxes. These practices, contrary to the social norms are seen as mild transgressions. The minimization of transgressions as banal or inconsequent actions feeds a culture of transgression in which deviant behaviors are seen as accepted actions with no consequences. Therefore, this research discusses the effect of residential condominiums sheltering inhabitants which choose social and spatial segregation and the relevance of the experienced conflicts in a consolidation of urban culture of transgression.

Key words: Residential Condominiums, Sociability, Anti-social behavior, Habitation in Brazil.