1. Laughter Out of Place - 5
1.1. The gangs can act as a security force, doling out punishment that the police cannot or would not enforce. Examples: punishing rapists, adulterers, thieves
1.1.1. Gangs expect members and citizens of the favelas to not "dirty" their community by commiting crimes against each other.
1.1.1.1. Vigilante justice in the favelas often spirals into revenge killing. A brother can be killed for the mistakes of his sibling and the cycle of death will continue again and again.
1.1.1.1.1. Women of the gang members often affiliate themselves with the church so as to be spared from this violence
1.1.1.2. The gangs protect their community from outside gangs who would, having no affiliation to the area, "dirty" it with crime and drug trafficking.
1.2. The police are oftentimes corrupt, demanding hush/protection money from the favelas.
1.2.1. death squads who are off duty police officers often cull street children populations.
1.2.1.1. If a good police officer is present in the favela, they will at times be a better option for protection and problem solving than the gang. Example: instead of arresting the young man who assisted in the robbery of his employer, the police officer roughed him up and allowed him to return the stolen goods. The gang's solution was to kill him.
1.3. Lower Class Society does not know who to trust, the police or the gangs.
2. Pedro Paulo, Gloria's first born, is inducted to ganglife in the streets. Gloria feels she has failed to keep him on the right path.
2.1. Pedro Paulo chose this lifestyle from seeing his mother and others struggle making minimum wage in back breaking jobs. Ganglife was an alternative and is for many men in the favela.
3. Gloria uses Pedro Paulo as an example to her other children of how not to end up
3.1. Gloria uses punishments that may be deemed harsh by Western standards to keep her children and the children she adopts in line and on the right path of going to school and having honest jobs.
3.2. The harshest punishment is to be cast out into the street. Gloria uses this punishment when Filomena (who is a teenager) injures another child as she considers her an adult even though by Western standards, she is a child herself.
3.3. Pedro Paulo is killed and Gloria has no tears left to shed for him.
4. Middle and upper class society has deemed the favelas to be areas of crime
4.1. Brown zones are the farthest reaches of the city, where the favelas are. This area has the lowest amount of police penetration and enforcement.
4.1.1. These areas are the most riddled with crime, in part, playing into the psychology of being labelled as criminals. The police use the most violent, coercive tactics on this group of people.