Recent victimization survey in Rio de Janeiro, a metropolis with high rates of violent crimes, shows paradoxically that the suburban dwellers, mostly poor, present lower proportions of mistrusting or not knowing neighbors, less than 20%. In the city, good sociability shows higher percentages in those areas where the poor live. The one with higher population density and the most ancient, linked to the popular culture manifestations and former working class movement, corresponds to the city's suburbs where are the most violent favelas. Why such positive sociability is greater in the suburbs that exhibit the higher proportions of victimization although they lack leisure spaces and good public services, especially of public security? How can one explain this paradox? Based on the debate about social capital, collective efficacy and the three social orders - private, parochial e public -, new interpretations on the high rate of criminality in Rio de Janeiro are suggested.
Social; collective efficacy; neighborhood; parochial social order; public security; informal social control