Sistema de representações sociais em sentenças jurídicas sobre feminicídio na Bahia nos anos de 2020 e 2021

Abstract

This work aimed to analyze representational systems in the written repertoire of legal sentences from femicide cases in Bahia between 2020 and 2021. Femicide often happens after repeated violent acts in intimate relationships, representing a public health issue with social and economic consequences, as well as a Human Rights violations. The social representation theory was used to better understand the femicide phenomenon. Social representations are ways of depicting the world around us in a collective manner, shared by a social group or community, from a certain subject (Moscovici, 2005). By this definition, the current normative system, such as values, ideologies, and beliefs, and the cognitive function have an important role (Doise, 2002). Here, a qualitative and quantitative study of legal sentences of femicide complaints from 2020/2021 was performed, using the Jusbrasil plataform. A total of 15 legal sentences – 9 from female judges and 4 from male judges – from 11 cities in Bahia were analyzed first by Content Analysis and followed by Social Network Analysis, using Gephi software. From the content analyses, the following categories were established: crime motive, legal rationale, legal decision, crime location, crime instrument and defendant's background. The results showed that sexist reasons were the most frequent crime motivators. These reasonings could aid and substantiate future legal decisions, which was demonstrated by the articles chosen to construct the social representation system. Furthermore, the distinct stands taken by female and male judges through their legal decisions and arguments were notable, highlighting the differences between genders. Despite the small sample size and atypical years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the results allow for important reflections about the social metasystems of patriarchal and sexist ideologies, deep-seated in social groups, as well as their influence on decision making through gender comparison.