A Security Picture: Systematic Literature Review of Social Representations of Security and Associated Emotional Dynamics in the Context of Multi-Layered Citizenship

The political world is also a social world composed of multiple groups or social identities that often coexist turbulently. Thus, the collective meanings attributed to people, groups of people, and events – social representations – are relevant for the understanding of political phenomena and behaviours, for example, the reactions of the public to policies. Despite recognizing the interactions between different political actors, the role of emotions, and the influence of social context, the literature on political studies portrays the findings on social representations of security, associated emotional dynamics, and their relationship with multiple layers of citizenship (social groups) in isolation from each other. Thus, comprehensive knowledge of the interrelationships of these variables is yet to be achieved. By intertwining the concepts of social representations, emotions, and protective policies, this study seeks to provide a more integrated understanding of the meanings and emotional dynamics associated with protection, security, and safety across different social groups and political communities, conceptualized as multi-layered or multi-levels of citizenship – a perspective that has not been explored in prior research. A Systematic Literature Review following the PRISMA protocol was conducted and bibliometric methods (citation analysis and keyword co-occurrence) were applied. Seventy-three peer-reviewed articles obtained from WoS and Scopus were analysed. The results highlight the association between social representations of security and minorities, crime, and gender identity. Regarding minorities, ethnic and racialized groups, along with immigrants, appear to be represented as threats to the security and vehicles of transmission of COVID-19. These social representations were associated with fear, danger, and anxiety, producing situations of discrimination, isolation, exclusion, and erroneous beliefs regarding race as protection from COVID-19, fuelled by harmful stereotypes and by a lack of knowledge of the culture of the outgroup, which translates into categorization processes that reinforce the image of ethnic minorities as being more involved in deviant activities. Regarding social representations of security associated with crime, the results reflect the influence of crime-related variables and variables related to formal and informal control on fear of crime. These were associated with fear and trust and affected by the specific identities and personal and socio-psychological characteristics of the different social groups, such as gender, migrant status, poverty, and urban/rural residency. The social representations of security associated with gender identity, namely female, and the LGBTQI+ community (Lesbian, Transgender, Genderqueer, Bisexual), seem marked by emotional dynamics related to vulnerability, victimization, insecurity, fear, discrimination, and stigmatization, and influenced by the interaction of social, personal, sexual, and cultural factors. The present analyses identified factors that influence and are influenced the perceived protection/security/safety of individuals and social groups and provided new research directions.