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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
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Results for gangs (el salvador)
8 results foundAuthor: Yule, Alison Title: Investing in Youth for Violence Prevention: Gang Rehabilitation Programs in El Salvador Summary: El Salvador's armed conflict came to an end with Peace Accords signed in 1992. However the political war in El Salvador has now transformed into a social war. Gangs are feared as the most dangerous perpetrators of social violence. In the past, as an attempt to improve citizen security and attract voters, the government introduced a package of controversial anti-gang laws designed as a temporary means to criminalize gangs, violating several codes of international human rights. In response to failed repressive approaches, a shift towards a rehabilitative approach is now being encouraged whereby gang members deactivate and then reintegrate back into normal society. This research seeks to define gang rehabilitation and looks at what constitutes a rehabilitated gang member. Details: Utrecht: Utrecht University, Institute of Development Studies, 2008. 65p. Source: Thesis Year: 2008 Country: El Salvador URL: Shelf Number: 118309 Keywords: Gangs (El Salvador)Rehabilitation (El Salvador)Violence |
Author: Wolf, Sonja Title: The Politics of Gang Control: NGO Advocacy in Post-War El Salvador Summary: This thesis examines the advocacy strategies of three Salvadoran non-governmental organizations (NGOs) aimed at achieving a comprehensive and rights-respecting gang policy. Adopting an ethnographic approach, the study considers the ways in which the socio-political context and the inner workings of (NGOs) shape their advocacy strategies and ultimately their political outcomes. Details: Aberystwyth, Wales: University of Wales, 2008. 367p. Source: Doctoral Thesis Year: 2008 Country: El Salvador URL: Shelf Number: 117792 Keywords: Gangs (El Salvador) |
Author: Donaldson, William Title: Gangbangers and Politicians: The Effects of Mano Dura on Salvadoran Politics Summary: In 2009, El Salvador’s homicide rate reached seventy-one deaths per 100,000 people, the highest in the world outside of active war-zones. In the same year Mauricio Funes, the candidate of the leftist FMLN party, was elected president, an unprecedented event that marked the end of the right-wing ARENA party’s hold on power since 1989. To describe the political landscape of El Salvador as polarized would be an understatement: the founder of ARENA was responsible for much of the right-wing death squad activity in El Salvador during the 1980s, while the FMLN originally was the umbrella organization of leftist guerrilla groups during the civil war from 1979 to 1992. Veterans of the civil war are involved in both political parties and decades-old grievances between the two sides manifest themselves in the contentious political debates surrounding free trade, El Salvador’s relationship with the United States, and socio-economic inequality among other topics. However, despite rhetoric to the contrary, both previous ARENA administrations and the Funes administration have adopted the same policies in regards to the post-war crime surge, specifically the problem of youth gangs like Mara Salvatrucha (MS13). The policies revolve around the controversial mano dura (“iron fist”) laws that advocate a strong law enforcement approach towards gangs or maras and involve questionable methods such as the arbitrary detention of suspected gang youth for simply wearing baggy pants or sporting tattoos. Details: New Orleans, LA: Tulane University, Stone Center for Latin American Studies, 2012. 23p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 22, 2013 at: http://stonecenter.tulane.edu/uploads/Donaldson,_UploadVersion-1368207121.pdf Year: 2012 Country: El Salvador URL: http://stonecenter.tulane.edu/uploads/Donaldson,_UploadVersion-1368207121.pdf Shelf Number: 129131 Keywords: Gangs (El Salvador)HomicidesViolence |
Author: Dudley, Steven Title: The El Salvador Gang Truce and the Church - What was the role of the Catholic Church? Summary: El Salvador and its Central American neighbors are experiencing a terrible tide of criminal violence. Homicide rates are some of the highest in the world. This scourge of violent crime is a major concern of policymakers both in the region and in Washington, DC. Indeed, through regional security initiatives the U.S. government has invested more than $500 million in violence reduction programs during the last five years. European development agencies and international NGOs, similarly, have privileged violence reduction in their programs of financial and technical assistance to El Salvador and neighboring countries. Until recently, however, no policy initiatives seem to have made a significant dent in the problem. This paper addresses one development that has been portrayed in some circles as game-changing, and that now constitutes a critical point of reference for violence reduction programs going forward. The truce among rival gangs in El Salvador worked out in March 2012, which has held since that time, has reduced homicides to half their previous levels. The paper examines in particular the widely held belief that the Catholic Church “brokered” that truce in light of the wider set of actors actually responsible and considers the various ways that religion may have an impact on contemporary violence in the region. Details: Washington, DC: Center for Latin American & Latino Studies, American University, 2013. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: CLALS White Paper Series, No. 1: Accessed July 11, 2013 at: http://www.american.edu/clals/upload/CLALS_White_Paper_Series_No-_1_The_El_Salvador_Gang_Truce_and_the_Church.pdf Year: 2013 Country: El Salvador URL: http://www.american.edu/clals/upload/CLALS_White_Paper_Series_No-_1_The_El_Salvador_Gang_Truce_and_the_Church.pdf Shelf Number: 129375 Keywords: Gang ViolenceGangs (El Salvador)HomicidesReligionViolent Crime |
Author: Carroll, Theodore Title: Where Do We Go From Here?: Assessing the USAID Crime and Violence Prevention Project in El Salvador and Understanding its Effects on Participating Communities Summary: El Salvador, the smallest nation in Latin America, has the unfortunate distinction of being one of the most violent in the world. In 2010, with a population of 7 million people and an area just smaller than the U.S. state of Massachusetts, this tiny country had a rate of 65 homicides per 100,000 residents; this is one of the highest murder rates in the world. This level of murder is several times higher than the rate of 10 per 100,000 – the rate that the United Nations considers a sign of an epidemic. According to the National Civil Police (PNC for its acronym in Spanish), more than half of the murders are related to gang activity. The Salvadoran Armed Forces state that it is more likely that the figure is closer to 90%. Youth gang violence in Central America is a serious problem. The most well known gangs that operate in this region are the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and 18th Street. These two gangs often engage in violent competition with each other and are involved in various criminal activities including local drug dealing, extortion, assault, rape, and robbery. The violence they perpetrate makes daily headlines in newspapers across from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador to Los Angeles and Washington, DC. While government in Central America have tried to address the problem with mano dura, iron-fisted policies, many researchers believe that the most effective response to gang violence is a comprehensive, community-based approach that includes prevention, intervention, rehabilitation, in addition to law enforcement. This study will focus on one specific program being implemented at the primary level of prevention in El Salvador by Research Triangle Institute International. Details: Washington, DC: George Washington University, 2012. 41p. Source: Internet Resource: Latin American & Hemispheric Studies Capstone: Accessed July 11, 2013 at: http://elliott.gwu.edu/assets/docs/acad/lahs/el-salvador-usaid-2012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: El Salvador URL: http://elliott.gwu.edu/assets/docs/acad/lahs/el-salvador-usaid-2012.pdf Shelf Number: 129377 Keywords: Gang ViolenceGangs (El Salvador)HomicidesViolent Crime |
Author: Santacruz-Giralt, Maria Title: Inside the Neighborhood: Salvadoran Street Gangs Violent Solidarity Summary: During the last decade, there has been a considerable increase in the level of violence and victimization among street gangs in El Salvador. According to the Salvadoran Institute of Legal Medicine (1999), the highest mortality rates due to homicide occur in young men aged 15 to 24, 41% of which were committed with a firearm. Many people around this age are currently joining a street gang or are already members of it. Although gang membership is not new for Salvadoran society, there is a great deal of concern because it constitutes one of the major reasons for the premature death of hundreds of young people, insecurity in an increasingly number of areas in the country, and bloody fights between rival groups that usually end tragically. Thus, the relevance of the situation is not only related to the fact that gang membership is becoming one of the options preferred by an increasingly number of adolescents, but also to the fact that the dynamic of violence that distinguishes these groups puts them at risk of violence both as victims and as perpetrators. Objectives Ø To provide and update information on the situation of hundreds of young Salvadoran gang members. Ø To propose an approach to identifying predictors of gang criminal violence and victimization. Ø To provide useful information for policy makers addressed to violence prevention. Method A five-section questionnaire was applied to 938 gang members (82.7% male, 17.3% female), most of whom belong to two of the biggest gangs in the country (the 18th Street and the Mara Salvatrucha). The questionnaire consisted of 75 questions that assessed · demographic information, · process and characteristics of gang membership, · consumption of alcohol and drugs, · type and frequency of violent acts carried out and received, and · history and characteristics of early victimization and exposure to violence at home and in their environment. A probability sampling was not possible in this survey due to the inherent difficulty of interviewing a street-gang member and to the nonexistence of a registry that can give an accurate idea of the number of people involved in gangs. Trained former gang members from the Homies Unidos team were the interviewers. Technical support, training and supervision were done by IUDOP members. Results · The mean age for becoming an active gang member is 15.2 years. · Seven out of ten gang members declared having weapons on them (mostly handguns, knives, "homemade" guns, explosives and rifles). This is most frequent among active, older male gang members. · The number of young people involved in gang activities who do not want to quit behaving violently and consuming drugs has decreased, compared to a previous study carried out in 1996 (1996 = 84.9%; 2000 = 42.8%). · 85% of the interviewees confessed to drug consumption during the 30 days prior to the interview. Among the most frequently consumed drugs were alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, crack, inhalants or combinations of these. · A multiple linear regression model was used to identify those factors more strongly correlated with criminal violence and victimization. The variables detected as more robust for aggression were as follows: - being an active gang member - having been in prison - using and abusing alcohol and drugs - being male - having a history of domestic violence. The predictors detected as more robust for criminal victimization were - being female in the gang - high consumption of illegal drugs - being an active member of the gang - being employed, and - having been a victim of violence at home. Conclusions The problem of gang violence as witnessed and perpetrated within the group, especially toward members of the "rival gang", as well as excessive consumption of alcohol and drugs, have worsened in comparison to previous studies. In addition to this, the study shows an increased number of gang members who want to remain active in his/her gang; thus, the probability of their becoming a lethal victim of street violence has shown an exponential increase. The problem with street gang has worsened, among other things, because the leading factors—both personal and socioeconomic—have not been effectively addressed. Hence, primary prevention becomes an important tool to reduce or avoid gang membership and violent activities. However, gang membership—as any other problem that has its roots in the social structure—has to be taken care of, and prevented, by means of directing efforts and resources towards its multiple dimensions. This study is a valuable source of information for policy-making. Although gang violence is quite complex, it can be understood and potentially prevented by using good and reliable information on its risk factors. This research offers concrete guidelines on factors that increase the likelihood of a young people joining gangs, committing acts of criminal violence, and becoming one more victim of the cycle of violence. Details: Washington, DC: Pan American Health Organization, 2001. (Executive summary available in English; Full report is available in Spanish). 169p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 16, 2013 at: http://www1.paho.org/English/AD/DPC/NC/barrio-adentro-exec-sum.pdf Year: 2001 Country: El Salvador URL: http://www1.paho.org/English/AD/DPC/NC/barrio-adentro-exec-sum.pdf Shelf Number: 129398 Keywords: Gangs (El Salvador)HomicidesYouth Violence |
Author: Cruz, Jose Miguel Title: Global Gangs in El Salvador: Maras and the Politics of Violence Summary: Where does Mara Salvatrucha come from? How did the U.S.-born Eighteenth Street Gang become a powerhouse of the Salvadoran streets? The Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS- 13, and the Eighteenth Street Gang, branded also as Barrio 18, are the two major youth gangs in El Salvador. According to different sources (Aguilar and Miranda 2006; USAID 2006), between 2002 and 2006, both gangs comprised more than 87 percent of gang membership in El Salvador. These gangs are known not only because of their control of the Salvadoran neighborhoods and most of the prisons nowadays, but also because groups of street gangs using those same names are found in every country of the North American hemisphere from Canada to Honduras, and even some cliques have been reported in distant countries such as Australia, Germany and Bolivia. Yet, the common answer to the question as to why MS-13 and the Eighteenth Street Gang are the major gangs in this Central American country is usually narrowed to the backwardand- forward migration of Salvadorans to the United States. The evidence, however, points to a more intricate response. Migration and deportation policies in the United States have indeed played an important role in boosting the phenomenon of street gangs in El Salvador, but it is an overstatement and a naivety to say that the dominance of MS-13 and Barrio 18 in Central America and their seemingly growing transnational character is essentially the result of the circular Salvadoran migration to the U.S. Should we accept this argument alone, we would find difficult to explain why the Eighteenth Street Gang, a gang originally formed by Chicanos and Mexican immigrants, have not put down roots in Mexican soil as they have done in El Salvador; or why the Belizean Crips and Bloods have not developed in the same way as the Salvadoran gangs. Gangs are the outcome of different factors. Marginalization, migration, street cross-culturalization, and —what I shall call— the politics of violence, being the key ones to explain the rise and predominance of the youth gangs in El Salvador, also locally known as maras. This article draws substantial theoretical insight from the work of Vigil (2002) on multiple marginalization, Hagedorn (2008) on gang institutionalization, and Decker on the dynamics of gang violence (Decker 1996; Decker, Bynum, and Weisel 1998; Decker and Van Winkle 1996); and is based on the research program on gangs developed by the University of Central America in San Salvador (Aguilar 2007; Carranza 2005; Cruz and Portillo Peña 1998; ERIC et al. 2001; Santacruz and Concha-Eastman 2001) and other institutions (Smutt and Miranda 1998). It argues that contemporary street Salvadoran gangs emerged as a result of social conditions in El Salvador, then they were shaped by the intensive exchange of young people, cultural goods and policies between the U.S. and El Salvador, and were finally strengthened by the need to deal with the mano dura (firm hand) policies, and extralegal violent actors stemming from state institutions and civil society. The paper is divided in three sections. The first part addresses the factors that lie behind the emergence of gangs as a major social issue in El Salvador; then, it reviews the path of gangs strengthening and the process through which they became street powerhouses not only in El Salvador but also in the region. Finally, the paper analyzes the link between gangs and violence in a country considered one of the most violent nations in the western hemisphere (UNODC 2007). Details: Paper presented at the Global Gangs Workshop, Centre on Conflict, Development, and Peacebuilding, Geneva, May 14-15, 2009. 17p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 16, 2013 at: http://graduateinstitute.ch/webdav/site/ccdp/shared/5039/Cruz-global-gangs-in-el-salvador.pdf Year: 2009 Country: El Salvador URL: http://graduateinstitute.ch/webdav/site/ccdp/shared/5039/Cruz-global-gangs-in-el-salvador.pdf Shelf Number: 129410 Keywords: Gang ViolenceGangs (El Salvador)Mara Salvatrucha |
Author: Santacruz-Giralt, Maria Title: Summary: The lives and situation of the women in the maras or gangs is a dimension that has been, to date, explored little by empirical research and, in general, little is known about it in civil society. Stereotypes and social images that have been built up around them are, in essence, masculine. The socio-cultural identities prevalent in the social imaginaries are those of young men that are covered in tattoos, are extremely violent and are linked to delinquent activities. Actually, although El Salvador has advanced in its understanding of the phenomenon, from the perspective of academic research, most of the studies have focused their sights on the analysis of its characteristics, the group logic, and the violent social dynamics that are built up within these organizations. The emphasis on these aspects has given rise to great voids in terms of the factors that pressure girls and adolescents to join these groups, the conditions they are inserted in, and the ruptures and contradictions they face once they have joined. The IUDOP, based on a line of investigation about juvenile violence developed since 1996, has sought in most of its research to reveal the gender differences that exist inside these groups, considering the limitations imposed by the study of groups where there are enormous disparities between men and women. In this sense, this approach to the lives of a group of women gang-members who have been deprived of liberty, from the perspective of qualitative research, has made it possible to penetrate the subjective aspects of their lives, and firmly denude the circles of violence, exclusion, oppression, and abandon that they are exposed to from early childhood. The analysis of these personal stories and their life experiences offer clues to the complex processes of group socialization experienced by the girls and adolescents who comprise the gangs, and the breakages with their families and the rest of society following their membership in these groups. Likewise, this paper shows the gains and profit that these groups offer them, in a context of multiple shortages and weaknesses, but above all, the multiple vulnerabilities and risks the adolescents and youth are subjected to once they have entered the gangs. With this as a background, the paper that is being shared presently offers a first approximation to the life and role of the women in these groups, based on their own life experiences and personal stories, in order to contribute to formulating policy that addresses differentially the needs and risks faced by the girls and youth that are inserted in these aggregations. Details: San Salvador: The University Institute of Public Opinion (Instituto Universitario de Opinion Publica-IUDOP), 2010. 400p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 25, 2015 at: http://www.uca.edu.sv/publica/iudop/libros/SegIN.pdf Year: 2010 Country: El Salvador URL: http://www.uca.edu.sv/publica/iudop/libros/SegIN.pdf Shelf Number: 134670 Keywords: Female Gang MembersGang-Related ViolenceGangs (El Salvador)HomicidesYouth Gangs |