Social costs of victimization in Latin America: Perception of insecurity, social capital and perception of democracy

Latin America is the world region most affected by crime. However, little is known about the social costs of crime. In this study, we used six waves of Latin American Barometer (2004-2014) data and applied propensity-score matching to estimate the costs of victimization on the perception of insecurity, social capital, and democracy for sixteen Latin American countries. Results show that the costs of victimization have an impact on several social issues, especially those affecting women. Victimization not only increases perceptions of insecurity and reduces legitimacy and trust in those institutions charged with public safety; it also affects trust in unrelated institutions, trust in third persons, and perceptions of the neighborhood. On the positive side, victimization fosters participation in organizations, although in lower-income classes where communal resources are more common.