Social media crises in the organization: exploring management strategies through cases from France and Brazil

The aim of this Master’s thesis has been to shed light on the response strategies that organizations are implementing when facing a crisis created on or amplified by social media. Since the development of social media in the late 1990s, the interplay between the online and the offline spheres has become more complex, and characterized by dynamics of a new magnitude, as exemplified by the wave of “Twitter” Revolutions or the Wikileaks scandal in the mid 2000s, where online behaviors deeply affected an offline reality. The corporate world does not escape to this worldwide phenomenon, and there are more and more examples of organizational reputations destroyed by social media “fireballs”. As such, this research aims to investigate, through the analysis of six recent cases of corporate crises (2013-2015) from France and Brazil, different strategies currently in use in order to identify examples of good and bad practices for companies to adopt or avoid when facing a social media crisis. The first part of this research is dedicated to a review of the literature on crisis management and social media. From that review, we were able to design a matrix model, the Social Media Crisis Management Matrix, with which we analyzed the response strategies of the six companies we selected. This model allows the conceptualization of social media crises in a multidimensional matrix built to allow the choice, according to four parameters, of the most efficient (that is: which will limit the reputational damage) response strategy. Attribution of responsibility for the crisis to the company by stakeholders, the origin of the crisis (internal or external), the degree of reputational threat, and the emotions conveyed online by stakeholders help companies determining whether to adopt a defensive response, or an accommodative response. The results of the analysis suggest that social media crises are rather manichean objects for they are, unlike their traditional offline counterparts, characterized by emotional involvement and irrationality, and cannot be dealt with traditionally. Thus analyzing the emotions of stakeholders proved to be, in these cases, an accurate thermometer of the seriousness of the crisis, and as such, a better rudder to follow when selecting a response strategy. Consequently, in the cases, companies minimized their reputational damage when responding to their stakeholders in an accommodative way, regardless of the “objective” situation, which might be a change of paradigm in crisis management.

On theory multiple contraction

The one which is considered the standard model of theory change was presented in [AGM85] and is known as the AGM model. In particular, that paper introduced the class of partial meet contractions. In subsequent works several alternative constructive models for that same class of functions were presented, e.g.: safe/kernel contractions ([AM85, Han94]), system of spheres-based contractions ([Gro88]) and epistemic entrenchment-based contractions ([G ar88, GM88]). Besides, several generalizations of such model were investigated. In that regard we emphasise the presentation of models which accounted for contractions by sets of sentences rather than only by a single sentence, i.e. multiple contractions. However, until now, only two of the above mentioned models have been generalized in the sense of addressing the case of contractions by sets of sentences: The partial meet multiple contractions were presented in [Han89, FH94], while the kernel multiple contractions were introduced in [FSS03]. In this thesis we propose two new constructive models of multiple contraction functions, namely the system of spheres-based and the epistemic entrenchment-based multiple contractions which generalize the models of system of spheres-based and of epistemic entrenchment-based contractions, respectively, to the case of contractions (of theories) by sets of sentences. Furthermore, analogously to what is the case in what concerns the corresponding classes of contraction functions by one single sentence, those two classes are identical and constitute a subclass of the class of partial meet multiple contractions. Additionally, and as the rst step of the procedure that is here followed to obtain an adequate de nition for the system of spheres-based multiple contractions, we present a possible worlds semantics for the partial meet multiple contractions analogous to the one proposed in [Gro88] for the partial meet contractions (by one single sentence). Finally, we present yet an axiomatic characterization for the new class(es) of multiple contraction functions that are here introduced.

As relações da tríplice hélice no setor da carcinicultura do Rio Grande do Norte: uma análise a partir das abordagens da imersão social e da dependência de recursos

This work consists in a study of the Shrimp Industry in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, whose central issue relates to the understanding of how the Triple Helix (University, Government and the productive sector) interrelationship limits or expands the industry s innovation process. The study aims to understand how the Triple Helix relationship interferes in the innovation process of shrimp in Rio Grande do Norte. As the knowledge becomes the resource key for production methods, the generation of new technologies, new products and processes which demands joint and integrated action of the institutions comprising the Triple Helix: University, Government and productive sector, which possess the essential resources to innovate the process and can be maximized from cooperative relationships between the referred Institutions. Thus, in this work, it was sharply used the pioneering studies of Sabato and Botana (1968) regarding the cooperation relationship between the scientific-technological sphere, the governmental and the productive base, and studies on the Triple Helix approach, proposed by Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff (2000), in which the university has a key role in the process of technological and innovative development of countries and regions, and under which it is assigned to the very University - the character of the entrepreneurial institution, through the concept of entrepreneurial University. Aiming to overcome the criticism of Cooke (2005), regarding the limitations of the Triple Helix approach, in this study it was used - as analytical perspectives - the perspective of social immersion (Granovetter, 1985, 2005) and the theory of resources dependence (PFEFFER; SALANCIK, 1978). The analytical perspectives presented in here, despite of the different assumptions, are essential to eliminate the bias that one only approach can lead (ASTLEY; VAN DE VEM; 2007). The authors arguments focus on the fact that the integration is possible if the researcher acknowledged that different perspectives may have different descriptions of the same phenomenon. As a research strategy, this study is characterized as a study case, along with the proposed objectives - the qualitative method was used as an approach and, depending on the gathering of the sector s historical, a sectional longitudinal view approach was applied (VIEIRA, 2004). The primary and secondary data were used in order to understand the sector s evolutionary process and its inter-institutional relations - regarding the shrimp culture in Rio Grande do Norte - to promote the development, as the content was used for the technical analysis (BARDIN, 1977). The approach of social immersion and resources addiction dependence made it possible to understand that relationships are established within and between each sphere (university, government and productive sector) characterizing a network of low density relationships and strongly internal and external dependence. Based on the speech of Etzkowitz and Mello (2006), a successful Triple Helix strategy of innovation requires not only the involvement and commitment of the parts, within the institutional sphere and among them, but also the development of mechanisms to coordinate the multiple and complex interactions and interfaces, focusing on promoting both environment and context for innovation and learning; it can be acknowledge from study results that the shrimp in the State of the RN, although there are several institutional mechanisms to promote greater integration and technological development, has been presented disjointed - both internally and between the spheres - and under no legitimate practice when facing the innovational promotion and integration institutions. Due to those factors, the central institutions of the network are crucial to the promotion of innovations, spreading through their direct contacts the importance factor of the sustainable competitive activity in the world market and on the national level. However, it may be concluded, from the data, that the Triple Helix relations are interfering in a negative way on what concerns the promotion of innovations in the shrimp industry in RN

Trabalho e família: um estudo da interação de papéis com secretários executivos

The balance between the demands of two important spheres of human life, work and family, has become a challenge due to the pressures of the contemporary that is expanding around the difficulties of reconciling these two comínios. In this sense, this research aimed to understand the work-family interaction in the perception of executive secretaries. The analysis approach used was qualitative research, by worrying about a reality that can not be quantified due to the subjectivity of his goal. The data collection technique used was the semistructured interview to twenty executive secretaries, servants of a Federal Institution of Higher Education. For the understanding and interpretation of the data, we used the technique of content analysis. The results of both analyzes identified the existence of conflict as enrichment in this interaction. The time was identified as the largest generator of conflict work. The overload, relationship stress and conflict emerged as elements common to both domains. As main implications of labor disputes, were revealed: problamas health for secretaries and stress. As main implications of family conflicts emerged: motivation for work, lower performance and lack of concentration. The attempt at balance was identified as the strategy most used by secretaries to minimize work-family conflict. The work-family enrichment was seen as resources that contribute to improving the lives of the secretary in both domains. The opportunity to add knowledge was highlighted as enriching element of work and family values ​​as elements enriching family. The support and experience emerged as enrichment items common to both domains. Regarding the implications of enrichment resulting from the interaction of work and family, the more perceived by respondents were: increased knowledge and skills, material and psychological benefits, improved quality of life and personal and professional fulfillment. From the perception of executive secretaries, work and family spheres of human life are essential and complementary, and that help is contrary, however, this relationship is the primary management of conflicts, ie, how the individual sees and manages the negative side of the work-family

Tecendo vivências e sentidos do câncer infantil : família, doença e redes de apoio social em Natal-RN

This paper discusses the experiences related to the treatment of children´s cancer which had children, their mothers and families as their main characters. They were mainly originated from areas in the countryside and urban poor areas in the State of Rio Grande do Norte. The non-governmental organization Grupo de Apoio à Criança com Câncer (GACC) was the privileged ethnographic location. In this setting, the mother, which was called acompanhante (companion), and the children, defined as pacientes (patients), were often sheltered in reason of therapeutic practices and the treatment undertaken by children in a nearby hospital. This study aims to focus on the therapeutic itinerary, beyond the children´s suffering, dealing with the family as a whole, since the moral values from these popular families imply the complete involvement of the family in relation to the illness and its treatment. Therefore, it is experienced as a family problem. We also intend to understand the construction of meanings to the illness, dealing with the ideological continuity in the relationships between the families and the GACC. These meanings were built in the intersection of these two spheres, which refer particularly to medical, religious and emotional explanations. Ethnographic methods were applied in this research at the entity and another social contexts, such as the family households. I also tried to retrieve the process of treatment outside the GACC, visiting the family context, when doing dense interviews or just having conversations with informants. It was found that the GACC, as a non-governmental organization, generates a negotiation of identities, which develops, then, through the family as a whole, but also through the child and especially the mother, affecting, in some way, their internal organization. Furthermore, the meanings of the experience of illness appeared to be shaped by the family sphere as well as by the logic of public health structures

Da bancada ao Bureau: análise do desenvolvimento da biotecnologia no Nordeste Brasileiro sob o enfoque de Sistema Regional de Inovação

The starting point of the present work consisted of investigating the development of biotechnology in the Northeast region of Brazil from the perspective of a Regional Innovation System (RIS). The theoretical framework adopted relied on the approaches and concepts presented by the Neo-Schumpeterian perspective. This framework was chosen because, by means of the Innovation System concept, this literature allows us to analyze the relationships and configurations of actors, as well as the role of the state and of social, science and technology, and economic policies in the studied region. The analysis considered four selected dimensions: physical infrastructure, human capital, scientific production, and funding. These variables were chosen because they allow us to verify the possibilities and limitations of developing a biotechnology RIS in the Northeast of Brazil, and these elements would help in answering the question behind this dissertation. The location of the physical infrastructure was determined by means of bibliographic and documental research and interviews with heads of institutions that do biotechnology research. Regarding human capital, the analysis focused on resource training in biotechnology, highlighting graduate courses and research groups in the area. To measure knowledge production, we delimited scientific collaboration among researchers in the field of biotechnology as the focus of this category. For the funding dimension, information was gathered from reports available at the websites of national and state funding agencies. The data was analyzed through method triangulation, involving quantitative and qualitative research stages. To back the analyses, we revisited the integration policies in the area of Science, Technology and Innovation. Our analysis has shown that these policies play a crucial role in the development of biotechnology in the region being studied. The data revealed that the physical infrastructure is concentrated in only three states (Bahia, Ceará, and Pernambuco). In this regard, the Northeast Biotechnology Network (Renorbio) stands out as a strategic actor, enabling states with poor infrastructure to develop research through partnerships with institutions located in another state. We have also verified that the practices involving human resource training and knowledge production are factors that enable the emergence of a regional system for biotechnology in the studied region. As limitations, we have verified the low immersion level of regional actors, the heterogeneity of socioeconomic indicators, the lack of financial resources, and a low innovation culture in the business sector. Overall, we have concluded that the development of a Regional Innovation System in Biotechnology, based on the current regional dynamics, depends on an effective change in the behavior of the social agents involved, both in the national and regional dimensions as well as in the public and private spheres

Implementação da rotina de unfolding para determinação de distribuição de tamanho de grãos esféricos via distribuição de interceptos lineares e de área de seção

Na unfolding method of linear intercept distributions and secction área distribution was implemented for structures with spherical grains. Although the unfolding routine depends on the grain shape, structures with spheroidal grains can also be treated by this routine. Grains of non-spheroidal shape can be treated only as approximation. A software was developed with two parts. The first part calculates the probability matrix. The second part uses this matrix and minimizes the chi-square. The results are presented with any number of size classes as required. The probability matrix was determined by means of the linear intercept and section area distributions created by computer simulation. Using curve fittings the probability matrix for spheres of any sizes could be determined. Two kinds of tests were carried out to prove the efficiency of the Technique. The theoretical tests represent ideal cases. The software was able to exactly find the proposed grain size distribution. In the second test, a structure was simulated in computer and images of its slices were used to produce the corresponding linear intercept the section area distributions. These distributions were then unfolded. This test simulates better reality. The results show deviations from the real size distribution. This deviations are caused by statistic fluctuation. The unfolding of the linear intercept distribution works perfectly, but the unfolding of section area distribution does not work due to a failure in the chi-square minimization. The minimization method uses a matrix inversion routine. The matrix generated by this procedure cannot be inverted. Other minimization method must be used

Construção, caracterização e aplicação de eletrodos para descarga por arco de cátodo oco

The system built to characterize electrodes and, consequently, deposited fine films are constituted by a hollow cathode that works to discharges and low pressures (approximately 10-3 to 5 mbar), a source DC (0 to 1200 V), a cylindrical camera of closed borossilicato for flanges of stainless steel with an association of vacuum bombs mechanical and spread. In the upper flange it is connected the system of hollow cathode, which possesses an entrance of gas and two entrances for its refrigeration, the same is electrically isolated of the rest of the equipment and it is polarized negatively. In front of the system of hollow cathode there is a movable sample in stainless steel with possibility of moving in the horizontal and vertical. In the vertical, the sample can vary its distance between 0 and 70 mm and, in the horizontal, can leave completely from the front of the hollow cathode. The sample and also the cathode hollow are equipped with cromel-alumel termopares with simultaneous reading of the temperatures during the time of treatment. In this work copper electrodes, bronze, titanium, iron, stainless steel, powder of titanium, powder of titanium and silício, glass and ceramic were used. The electrodes were investigated relating their geometry change and behavior of the plasma of the cavity of hollow cathode and channel of the gas. As the cavity of hollow cathode, the analyzed aspects were the diameter and depth. With the channel of the gas, we verified the diameter. In the two situations, we investigated parameters as flow of the gas, pressure, current and applied tension in the electrode, temperature, loss of mass of the electrode with relationship at the time of use. The flow of gas investigated in the electrodes it was fastened in a work strip from 15 to 6 sccm, the constant pressure of work was among 2.7 to 8 x 10-2 mbar. The applied current was among a strip of work from 0,8 to 0,4 A, and their respective tensions were in a strip from 400 to 220 V. Fixing the value of the current, it was possible to lift the curve of the behavior of the tension with the time of use. That curves esteem in that time of use of the electrode to its efficiency is maximum. The temperatures of the electrodes were in the dependence of that curves showing a maximum temperature when the tension was maximum, yet the measured temperatures in the samples showed to be sensitive the variation of the temperature in the electrodes. An accompaniment of the loss of mass of the electrode relating to its time of use showed that the electrodes that appeared the spherical cavities lost more mass in comparison with the electrodes in that didn't appear. That phenomenon is only seen for pressures of 10-2 mbar, in these conditions a plasma column is formed inside of the channel of the gas and in certain points it is concentrated in form of spheres. Those spherical cavities develop inside of the channel of the gas spreading during the whole extension of the channel of the gas. The used electrodes were cut after they could not be more used, however among those electrodes, films that were deposited in alternate times and the electrodes that were used to deposit films in same times, those films were deposited in the glass substrata, alumina, stainless steel 420, stainless steel 316, silício and steel M2. As the eletros used to deposit films in alternate time as the ones that they were used to deposit in same times, the behavior of the thickness of the film obeyed the curve of the tension with relationship the time of use of the electrode, that is, when the tension was maximum, the thickness of the film was also maximum and when the tension was minimum, the thickness was minimum and in the case where the value of the tension was constant, the thickness of the film tends to be constant. The fine films that were produced they had applications with nano stick, bio-compatibility, cellular growth, inhibition of bacterias, cut tool, metallic leagues, brasagem, pineapple fiber and ornamental. In those films it was investigated the thickness, the adherence and the uniformity characterized by sweeping electronic microscopy. Another technique developed to assist the production and characterization of the films produced in that work was the caloteste. It uses a sphere and abrasive to mark the sample with a cap impression, with that cap form it is possible to calculate the thickness of the film. Through the time of life of the cathode, it was possible to evaluate the rate of waste of its material for the different work conditions. Values of waste rate up to 3,2 x 10-6 g/s were verified. For a distance of the substratum of 11 mm, the deposited film was limited to a circular area of 22 mm diameter mm for high pressures and a circular area of 75 mm for pressure strip. The obtained films presented thickness around 2,1 µm, showing that the discharge of arch of hollow cathode in argon obeys a curve characteristic of the tension with the time of life of the eletrodo. The deposition rate obtained in this system it is of approximately 0,18 µm/min

Análise gráfica de estruturas porosas sobre a ótica da estereologia

In this work we developed a computer simulation program for physics porous structures based on programming language C + + using a Geforce 9600 GT with the PhysX chip, originally developed for video games. With this tool, the ability of physical interaction between simulated objects is enlarged, allowing to simulate a porous structure, for example, reservoir rocks and structures with high density. The initial procedure for developing the simulation is the construction of porous cubic structure consisting of spheres with a single size and with varying sizes. In addition, structures can also be simulated with various volume fractions. The results presented are divided into two parts: first, the ball shall be deemed as solid grains, ie the matrix phase represents the porosity, the second, the spheres are considered as pores. In this case the matrix phase represents the solid phase. The simulations in both cases are the same, but the simulated structures are intrinsically different. To validate the results presented by the program, simulations were performed by varying the amount of grain, the grain size distribution and void fraction in the structure. All results showed statistically reliable and consistent with those presented in the literature. The mean values and distributions of stereological parameters measured, such as intercept linear section of perimeter area, sectional area and mean free path are in agreement with the results obtained in the literature for the structures simulated. The results may help the understanding of real structures.

São públicas as contratações do estado brasileiro? - uma experiência de contratações públicas junto à comunidade Coqueiral em Aracaju/SE.

State intervention generally demands the purchase or rental of goods and services, and such acquisitions are subject to a number of indispensable legal frameworks. In the Brazilian State, Law 8.666 of 21 June 1993 and further norms regulate the necessity of a formal process, usually licitation. Given the importance of this subject to public and private spheres, one of the prerequisites of these formal contracting rules is the openness of public acts, and society s knowledge and accompaniment. The objective of this study is to investigate society s participation in public contracting, with the aim of debating theories surrounding the state/society relationship proposed by public political thought and authors in relation to legal aspects involving licitations. The principal question of this research is: despite the possibility of society s participation being predicted in the legal frameworks which orientate licitations, why is this social control not carried out? Why does it only occupy a secondary position to both individual and collective agents? In order to test some of this study s hypotheses, field research was carried out in the Coqueiral community in Aracaju, Sergipe, in relation to public acquisitions of goods and services during the period of May to September 2009. Research involved observation visits and guided interviews with the relevant community and public sector representatives. This project s hypotheses were confirmed, as this social control is not apparent, even in areas where popular participation is a strong component in asserting ones local rights, like in the Coqueiral community.

A teoria democrática e a participação popular : as trajetórias participativas no Recife e em Módena

This work basically achieve three goals. Critically investigate the liberal democratic regime and its historical reformulation, rejecting the popular power and popular self-organization, limiting the entry of normal citizen in decision-making, believing in the market as a mediating body in regulating of the different life spheres of social. Starting from the critical liberal democracy, it discussed the concept of popular participation in the democracy, searching new democratically horizons, where the masses could have the opportunity to make decisions about their own destiny. On the basis of theoretical discussion on participation, we discuss a concrete instrument of participation, the Participatory Budgeting, comparing two participatory experiences in North and South

Estado e sociedade civil no Acre (1970-1980)

The relation between State and civil society is not a very recent discussion, but it does not mean that debate is exhausted, since is in the historical context that the novelty is seized. Thinking like this, we may analyze how the relation between state and civil society happened in Acre during the decade of 1970. But, to understand how this relation is established in faraway Acre, we have available to the reader historical analyses, in a tireless attempt to clarify minimally aspects that characterize acreana society. To do this, we take on as a departure point, in general not differentiating of the given structure at national level, the conformation of this society was guided in a passive revolution, in another way, by high transformismo, relegating to the civil society, which is incipient, pífia a simple participation in the hegemonic policy direction. All this brings us to the thought that both state bureaucracy structure and the civil society organization, were influenced decisively for a traditional political elite. In addition, we begin the work with the lifting bibliographic reference searching and then we analyze the empirical reality, such as newspapers, official media publications and private, a few documents and last, interviews with political actors associated with the process consolidation of civil society in the 1970 decade. The interviewees were selected, firstly for their location in the region, and for their outstanding contribution to the consolidating process of recent Acre history. Thus, the interviews followed up on a semi-structured way, leading up, also, for the informations that the interviewees would have to pass on. The systematization and analysis of these surveys have shown us that, in the period before of the Acre Federal State lifting had, of course, a transformismo by high, but at 1970decade, the society with a more heterogeneous social formation, is not allowed, or at least, organize itself, to counter a systematic imposition. Thus, the hegemonic area of dispute between State and civil society occurs from the "reconciliation" with the adoption of public policies that amenizasse the dispute between both spheres, and to build up some bodies, settling a acreana civil society.

Entre a vida e a obra: música e religião em Max Weber

This study aims to analyze the relationship between music and religion in Max Weber s life and work, in a perspective that combines its intellectual productions in Sociology, in religion and art subfields. We developed a research in order to revisit the concept of rationalization, present in Weberian thought, and also to discuss how music and religion, as distinct spheres of life, star conflicts and alliances and build particular attitudes of action in the world, having the appearance of a rationality based on calculation in a central position to understand the construction of musical technique in the West and the autonomy of aesthetic enjoyment from religious enjoyment, previously linked. Regarding the procedure analysis, we built a symbolic cartography, according to Santos (2000), from selected works of Max Weber, as Religious rejections in the world and their directions (1982), among others. With the activity, we identified similarities and differences between music and religion in the author thoughts. We consider that the studied dimensions are important in Weberian analysis of the constitution of modern society and its cultural system, showing two distinct approaches to the issue of rationalization in the West

Democracia Possível: espaços institucionais, participação social e cultura política

The present study aims at making a theoretically reflection about the reconstruction process of democracy that can be observed in the country since the opening political process, which took place with the Geisel´s government in 1974, passing through the first civil president, in 1985, the Constitution process, in 1986, and finally the Constitution promulgation in 1988. It interests to this study analyses the premise that the 1988 Constitution inaugurates the moment in which democracy starts to be reconstructed in the country, and that this reconstruction is made in such a brand new way, once it included the possibility of participation of the civil society in the deliberation of the public politics, what became possible with the creation of new spaces of a gestion shared by the three executive powers: federal; states; municipalities, and with the civil society, in the councils created in those spheres. In this way, this work wishes to focus the opening process to the civil society participation, wich became possible with the creation of the city councils of public politics. It´s about investigating the form in wich the relations set up in these hibrid spaces could be considered democratic, inclusive and promoters of effective participation, checking up tendencies, giving emphasis to regularities and some specifities encountered in the forms of participation, which have been observed in those councils. In order to comprehend the democratic process in construction in the country, the analysis of the relations established by the civil society and the local executive power in the obligatory municipal councils is taken as object of study, passing by the tensions wich evolves institutions and political practices, permeated by the local political culture. It starts from a briefly review of works already made on the subject

Medo e violência na cidade: imagens, discursos e sociabilidade nas praças de João Pessoa - PB

The present work analyses and discusses the sociability in the culture of contemporary cities focusing on the theme of fear and violence in the daily life of squares in the city of João Pessoa-PB. We analyse the relations between places in town and make correlations of history and setting of neighborhoods with the process of urban growth, including recent interventions of public authorities in their public spaces. We observed in this dynamics social attitudes and actions that range from a desired peaceful coexistence to social exclusion. Thus, we discuss, based upon the imaginary vision, that the squares exist as a locus of equality, citizenship and political, and, also, as a space for everyone, despite the existence of symbolic forces working towards segregation and privatization, ruled in fear and violence. We aimed to investigate the different symbolic logics from the issue of fear and violence that allows the exclusion and the inclusion of groups and individuals in the quotidian use of public spaces of contemporary cities. We believe that the social action is demarcated by violence ant its corollary, the social fear, and operates based on the logic of a relational game always confrontational but experienced in different forms according to the social segment or group under study. We used a qualitative and quantitative methodology relating data and statistical analysis with categories created for the understanding of subjective factors. Our analyses combined ethnographic elements, periodics research and images of the city and its spaces, with the contribution of a survey that allowed comparisions of five squares of neighborhood based on the daily life under investigation. Our proposal was to deepen the investigations related to the public space of contemporary cities, expanding the look on João Pessoa and its cultural dynamics with an analysis of discourses, images, the collective imaginary and the social appropriation of the spaces based on fear and violence. The research accomplished in different areas and the analysis of images and speeches published in newspapers reports, books, advertising etc. allowed the approach of differentiated patterns of sociability in the same urban process. The neighborhoods in study are indeed spatially and economically distanced and the process of creation and construction of squares occurred in very different ways in the respective location. We defend the thesis that neighborhood community squares provide reinvigorated spaces and public spheres in the urban process and in the dynamics of sociability in the cities. These squares are also social spaces par excellence for the perception of the logic of individualism and segregation so marked by fear and violence in contemporary cities