Social Trust And Lethal Violence In Urban Public Space: A Socio-Legal Analysis Of The Murder Of A Youth By Street Musicians In Bintaro

Abstract

The phenomenon of the murder of a young man by street buskers, whose body was dumped in a vacant lot in Bintaro, reflects the collapse of social trust and the heightened vulnerability to lethal violence in urban public spaces. This study aims to analyze the relationship between social trust, the socio‐economic positions of perpetrator and victim, and the law‐enforcement response in constructing the case. It employs a socio‐legal qualitative case‐study method, using media coverage, event chronology, and related legal documents as primary materials, grounded in social trust theory, social capital theory, and socio‐legal perspectives on law–society relations. The findings show that brief interactions without pre‐existing trust networks, the perpetrators’ marginal conditions, weak social control in public spaces, and the ways media and authorities construct the narrative of ‘street crime’ all contribute to normalizing the risk of violence and to the potential erosion of public trust in the criminal justice system. The study concludes that strengthening grassroots social trust and enhancing socio‐legal sensitivity in handling similar cases are key to preventing lethal violence and restoring the legitimacy of law.