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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
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Results for urban violence
25 results foundAuthor: Muggah, Robert, ed. Title: Urban Violence in an Urban Village: A Case Study of Dili, Timor-Leste Summary: Drawing on a randomized household survey, focus group interviews, and an extensive literature review undertaken between June and December 2009, this study considers the structural and proximate factors shaping urban violence in Dili. These include the presence of informal security actors, erstwhile internally displaced persons (IDPs), permanent and seasonal population movements, land and property disputes, and persistent and glaring socioeconomic inequalities. The report also focuses on the objective symptoms of urban violence, including (the comparatively low) homicide rates, the relatively high rates of robbery, the high prevalence of sexual and domestic violence, the relationship between alcohol consumption and the onset of violence, the seemingly ambiguous and distrustful attitudes towards formal security providers, and the interconnections between systemic unemployment and protracted violence. In terms of subjective experiences of urban violence, the study finds that most residents describe their neighbourhoods as generally free from violence, their communities as safer than surrounding communities, the security of their neighbourhoods as adequate, and their neighbours as willing to look out for one another. The tendency towards increased transience and anonymity, owing in part to an exploding population and urbanization, may threaten these social networks of reciprocity. The study finds that urban violence in Dili can often shift from collective to interpersonal forms in dramatic fashion. Owing to the weak state of crime and health surveillance and the fact that most minor incidents are dealt with through customary means, if at all, it is difficult for international and domestic authorities to anticipate the onset of acute forms of urban violence. While recognizing a comparatively low incidence of overall violent victimization in Dili since 2007, the study observes that muscular coercive and security-led interventions seeking to deter urban violence are more commonly pursued by the government than informal, voluntary approaches that seek to prevent and reduce victimization in the long term. Details: Geneva: Geneva Declaration Secretariat, 2010. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper: Accessed October 21, 2010 at: http://www.genevadeclaration.org/fileadmin/docs/regional-publications/Urban_Violence_Dili.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia URL: http://www.genevadeclaration.org/fileadmin/docs/regional-publications/Urban_Violence_Dili.pdf Shelf Number: 120050 Keywords: Socioeconomic StatusUrban CrimeUrban ViolenceVictimization |
Author: Muggah, Robert Title: More Slums Equals More Violence: Reviewing Armed Violence and Urbanization in Africa Summary: The majority of the world’s population today live in cities. The uncontrolled development of informal settlements in many cities has led to the expansion of slums and shantytowns. In Africa figures show that in 2005 approximately 40 percent of the population live in urban areas with this number estimated to rise to 50 percent by 2030. Even more alarming, more than half of Africa’s urban populations reside in slums. The concentration of the poor in cities and the peripheries is expected to continue, with dramatic increases in pace and scale in developing regions such as Africa. Residents of sprawling slums and shantytowns are exposed to heightened exposure and risk of criminal violence, narcotics and communicable illnesses, all of which constitute potent determinants of armed violence. Because they are often located outside the reach of formal policing institutions, impoverished slums are less able to enforce the regulation of the trade and use of weapons, including firearms. There is an estimated 30 million small arms and light weapons on the African continent, of which approximately 80 percent are in civilian hands, it is likely that marginalized areas of Africa’s urban landscape will become home to ever-growing arsenals. As the scale and distribution of urban armed violence in Africa evolves, some agreement on the types of risk factors contributing to its onset and spread on the continent have been identified. These include: Structural factors such as limited education, under- and unemployment, income inequality and uncontrolled urban planning. Proximate factors include segregation and urban density, cultures of masculinity, limited faith in public security, informal social organizations such as gangs and militia, and arms availability.4 There is also a strong link between countries emerging from war and the onset of urban violence – usually of a political and criminalise form. This is usually accompanied by the erosion of emerging democratic and development institutions.5 It is important to remember that there is ‘neither a simple nor a necessary causal link between urbanization and armed violence’.6 This paper explores some of the links between urbanization and armed violence within the African context, examining the nature and impact of particular aspects of armed violence such as firearm homicides and the emergence of criminal gang activity and vigilantism. The paper also considers possible approaches to reduce urban armed violence, drawing on lessons learned in other developing regions. Details: Geneva: United Nations Development Programme, 2007. 8p. Source: Internet Resource: UNDP/Geneva Declaration Working Paper; Accessed March 30, 2012 at: http://www.genevadeclaration.org/fileadmin/docs/regional-publications/Armed-Violence-and-Urbanization-in-Africa.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Africa URL: http://www.genevadeclaration.org/fileadmin/docs/regional-publications/Armed-Violence-and-Urbanization-in-Africa.pdf Shelf Number: 113573 Keywords: Armed ViolenceEconomic ConditionsPovertySlums (Africa)Urban Violence |
Author: Peace Studies Group Title: Youth, Collective Urban Violence and Security: Key Findings Summary: The aim of this paper is to discuss three main critical challenges which research and policymaking in the field of collective youth violence in urban contexts face today. This paper argues that we need to shift the focus of research in this area from “problematic” youth to the study of the ways in which violence permeates daily lives and becomes normalised through specific local social and political conditions. The paper then suggests that, in light of recent theory and empirical research, the relationship between violence and poverty should be re-evaluated. Additionally, and in order to properly address the causes of youth collective violence, this paper argues for a change of focus in the analysis of youth violent mobilisation. The suggested focus rests on the appeal of the symbolic revenues that mark the search for a valued social status and possibilities in contexts of adversity and violence. In fact, symbolic factors associated with the involvement in drugs trafficking and other violent activities and with youths’ contact with firearms are key factors, namely the search for status, power and respect, and attracting recognition from their male and female peers. The adrenaline and danger which youth experience through these activities are highly connected with gender constructions. Finally, this paper supports the progressively accepted evidence in favour of an urgent shift in how to address and prevent youth violence, claiming that repressive policies have hitherto failed to contain violence and to contribute to improving the formulation of preventive policies. This paper is based on data collection and analysis as well as reports from several studies conducted since 2006 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), San Salvador (El Salvador), Praia (Cape Verde) and Bissau (Guinea-Bissau). Details: Brussels: Peace Studies Group, Initiative for Peace Building, 2011. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 10, 2012 at: http://www.ifp-ew.eu/pdf/201107IfPEWYouthUrbanViolenceFindings.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://www.ifp-ew.eu/pdf/201107IfPEWYouthUrbanViolenceFindings.pdf Shelf Number: 125236 Keywords: Gang ViolenceUrban ViolenceViolent CrimeYouth Violence |
Author: Gossman, Christina Title: Urban Resilience in Situations of Chronic Violence Case Study of Johannesburg, South Africa Summary: The Johannesburg of yore was polarized. Whereas in the past it was tainted by the strictures of apartheid, Johannesburg is now striving to be a first-world city. It is the economic hub of sub-Saharan Africa and was site of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Although its origins are steeped in controversy and founded on practices of racial segregation, today it brands itself as integrated and heterogeneous. Yet present day Johannesburg is actually a city of gray areas. It is more cohesive culturally, economically, and racially than in the past, but in many parts of the city this integration is incomplete or precarious. Unity is neither present in all neighborhoods, nor spread equally across all city spaces; and for some residents the aims of social and spatial integration challenge the search for identity and community. It is this disconnect between the physical layout of the city, its polarized workings, and a wide range of individual and collective aspirations that helps fuel the violence that has made Johannesburg famous not only for its gold rush, its man-made forest, and its climate, but also for its high rates of crime and murder. Johannesburg has long been one of the most important cities of Sub-Saharan Africa. Even the decline of the mining industry did not halt its growth. Instead, numerous industries have grown significantly, attracting an increasing number of South Africans from rural provinces as well as foreigners from neighboring African countries. The apartheid era that disenfranchised black South Africans politically and economically, in combination with the country’s increasing rate of urbanization (62% of the population now lives in cities) led this small mining town to become the crime capital of South Africa. Like other cities studied in this project, while the physical layout of Johannesburg is rather straightforward, its spatial organization is more complex and depends largely on distances from and relationships with the state. Distance from the state can be either quantitative or qualitative. Quantitative distance is a mere matter of the physical distance from the city-center and its governing bodies and seems to have minimal effects within the city. Qualitative distance, however, is a matter of affiliation and perception, and has much more bearing on violence within the city. Within Johannesburg, the physical layout does not match the spatial organization, and it is perhaps in areas where the two are most dissonant that violence emerges most prominently. In neighborhoods that are physically proximate to the city-center but have an incredibly far perceived distance from the state in terms of economy, culture, services, or communication, violence is often used as a mechanism to compensate for the gap. The relationship of different parts of the state is a key factor in levels of violence, and is largely wrapped up in the concept of identity. Within Johannesburg, there are homogeneous spaces of people who mostly share a common identity that is unrelated to the state and there are heterogeneous spaces of people with different identities centered around a common tie to the state. This report focuses on the role and interactions between individuals, communities and governmental organizations in producing resilience. Which ones are effective, which ones are destructive? How do actors on the residential, collective and government level see these interactions and does collaboration among them exist? Given the time constraints in the field and the multitude and levels of violence and resilience in Johannesburg, we decided to focus on two neighborhoods that represent neighborhoods with high level of violence as well as a high number of innovative strategies for resilience: Hillbrow, one of Johannesburg's oldest, most transformed, and ever-changing neighborhoods, and Diepsloot, a relatively young, peri-urban informal settlement in the north of Johannesburg. Details: Cambridge, MA: Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2012. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 7, 2012 at: http://www.urcvproject.org/uploads/Johannesburg_URCV.pdf Year: 2012 Country: South Africa URL: http://www.urcvproject.org/uploads/Johannesburg_URCV.pdf Shelf Number: 127137 Keywords: Neighborhoods and CrimeUrban AreasUrban ViolenceViolent Crime (Johannesburg, South Africa) |
Author: Gordon, Rachel Title: Urban Resilience in Situations of Chronic Violence Case Study of Managua, Nicaragua Summary: This report explores the ways in which citizens of Managua cope with and adapt to dynamic security conditions in their daily lives as well as the interactions among institutions, actors and spaces that enable and constrain strategies of resilience. Despite the Nicaraguan government’s oft-touted assertion that it is the safest country in Central America, relatively little empirical research exists to shed light on residents’ quotidian experiences of insecurity or senses of agency regarding conditions of violence in their immediate surroundings. How are experiences and perceptions of insecurity shaped by the spatial and social configurations of urban life? How are they mediated by state institutions and non-state actors? What strategies enable resilience? Underlying this case study is the observation—herein regarded as sufficiently accurate—that Managua has thus far avoided the dire urban security challenges facing many of its neighbors, particularly those to the north: Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. It does, however, face the same mounting security difficulties as all of its neighbors in the region: a spiraling struggle against corruption, narco-trafficking and other organized crime, a dearth of economic opportunities, and the legacies of intra-state conflicts. While the legacy of civil war is an oft-cited factor underlying chronic violence, the correlation may be a spurious one. In fact, a central argument of this study is that the multi-layered legacy of the 1979 Sandinista revolution is not anathema to, but is the basis of, citizen resilience to current, entwined economic and security challenges. Such resilience is manifest in localized spatial and social loyalties that contribute to strong neighborhood identities, at the expense of a single broad urban identity. Resilience is defined here as residents’ ability to absorb, cope with, and adapt to the realities of insecurity and violence such that their lives are not consistently disrupted by it. The main focus of this study is on how social and spatial factors interact to determine resilience: how and why a strong neighborhood identity – itself a fusion of social and spatial characteristics – is central to citizens’ ability to cope and adapt in various ways. It is noted that all resilience strategies are not necessarily “positive.” The actions people take to enable the survival and security of themselves and their families in the face of an array of daily threats are what those individuals see as necessary; that does not make them necessarily positive in the long run. Instead, they must be understood to spring from inevitably imperfect sets of options under invariably constrained circumstances. In a hypothetical final accounting, they might prove to be at least as detrimental to security conditions as they are beneficial. Resilience, however, like history, has no such end point toward which human beings, communities and governments can plan. Instead, they must constantly confront multiple stressors and constraints utilizing various dynamic options and strategies. It is also noted that research inevitably offers only snapshot, a momentary freezing of the frame outside of which these various processes continue their constant cycles. While there exists a great volume of political and philosophical polemics on Nicaragua’s historical and modern development, relatively few scholars—in either Spanish or English—have reliably documented current chronic security challenges. The lack of reliable crime statistics and the confusing and inconsistent manner in which crimes are categorized place significant limitations on this and other analyses. In addition, the dearth of specific and non-politicized data and analysis regarding broad physical and livelihoods security factors—including infrastructure, social services, economic activity and opportunities, and vulnerability to hazards and shocks—makes Managua ripe but particularly challenging for analysis. It is explicitly assumed that ideology always shapes discourse, and that all analysis is inherently subjective. That said, the role of ideology in shaping discourse both within and related to Nicaragua is particularly outsized. This study attempts depoliticized analysis to the greatest extent possible, recognizing that such an extent may not be very great given the politicized nature of nearly all discourse in and related to Nicaragua today and throughout the past several decades. This study takes five parts. First, it locates Managua within its national and regional context, describing the physical and social development of the city itself and mapping key socio-historical events onto the geo-spatial layout of the city. Second, it describes current data and perceptions of violence, primary security actors, and the nature of state intervention. This section introduces the role of the National Police force, itself deeply rooted in the 1979 revolution, as a key mediator of security and resilience. Third, it explores spatial and social aspects of resilience, focusing on strong neighborhood identity—a legacy of geological and political upheaval—as a primary source of resilience. This section discusses the reaches and limitations of overt state intervention, as well as the implications of politicized organizing in diverse neighborhood contexts. Fourth, it examines enabling and constraining factors of resilience in greater depth, including poverty and inequality, narco-trafficking, the “youth bulge,” and the gendered dimensions of violence. This section posits a distinction between “public” and “private” spheres of violence by which some types of violence are deemed socially problematic while others—namely, “domestic” violence against women and children—are treated as ordinary and commonplace. Fifth and finally, it offers a brief analysis of the sustainability of resilience in the Managua context. Details: Cambridge, MA: Center for International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2012. 61p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 7, 2012 at: http://www.urcvproject.org/uploads/Managua_URCV.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Nicaragua URL: http://www.urcvproject.org/uploads/Managua_URCV.pdf Shelf Number: 127138 Keywords: Urban AreasUrban NeighborhoodsUrban ViolenceViolenceViolent Crime (Managua, Nicaragua) |
Author: Samper, Jota (Jose) Title: Urban Resilience in Situations of Chronic Violence Case Study of Medellín, Colombia Summary: The guiding question for this case study on urban resilience in situations of violence is how connections between individuals, communities and the state (Evans 1996) affect conditions for resilience. It is territorially focused on the informal settlements in Medellín, Colombia’s second largest city, where various violence entrepreneurs have produced acts of violence that at times have made the city one of the most dangerous in the world. Non-state as well as state armed actors have enacted violence, but together individuals, communities and the public authorities are coping with fluctuating conditions of insecurity by fostering positive resilience to strengthen communities and foster connections with the state. Together this has contributed to violence reductions, or at least pressures against the actors of violence. The qualitative research for the report is based on semi-structured interviews with community members, state officials, academics and armed and formerlyarmed actors. The author also conducted participant observation in community meetings in two districts of Medellín (Comunas 5 & 6, and Comuna 13) that have negotiated long histories of violence. Out of more than six decades of violence there has emerged a sophisticated group of resilient community organizations that have managed to cope with attacks by both illegal armed actors in their communities and by excessive force on the part of the state. Positive interactions between the state and these community organizations have contributed to the production of innovative resilience strategies and the adaptation of these strategies within a larger institutional scale and framework implemented by the state. The report is divided into four sections. The first provides an overview of the conditions of violence in Medellín. In particular, it focuses on how spatial conditions play a fundamental role in the intensification of insecurity in some parts of the city. It highlights the importance of urban informality—physically and socially—as causal factors in understanding the complexity and multiplicity of armed actors that historically used informal territories as urban battlefields (J. J. Betancur 2007b; Roldán 2003; Samper 2010). The second section presents a short overview of some of the security strategies that the city government has implemented in Medellín. It focuses specifically on two non-traditional security strategies—investments in urban infrastructure, especially in improving access to the informal settlements, and participatory budgeting—which unexpectedly enhanced security externalities. It concentrates on those strategies because they closed the physical and social distance between the informal communities and formal state structures, a distance that for as long as sixty years has been in the form of isolation (Davis 1999). The third and fourth sections are centered on resilience. The third reveals how community efforts to preserve conditions of security are the result of coping strategies with different armed actors (both non-state and state) within the context of complex informal governance structures embedded in informal settlements. These organizations are often extremely fragile, as measured by the constant attacks on the lives of their leaders, but their survival proves their resilience and of how they pose a real (or perceived) menace to illegal armed groups. The fourth section explores how interactions between state security agents and community organizations provide broader scopes of resilience than would be possible if both were working separately. These interactions between community efforts and state interventions point to the fact that in Medellín connections between the state and civil society have produced two crucial outcomes in terms of resilience: (1) they provide the state with a testing ground for new security strategies that can be implemented in the larger metropolitan area, thus extending conditions of resilience throughout the city; and (2) they enhance the power of existing community governance institutions in ways that provide community organizations with the legitimacy to contest the excesses of state-induced violence. Finally, the report concludes with an understanding that these state-community synergies are not static but rather dynamic as they result from the externalities of ongoing programs, with each cycle of community-state interaction producing new and enhanced resilience mechanisms. Details: Cambridge, MA: Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2012. 34p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 7, 2012 at: http://www.urcvproject.org/uploads/Medellin_URCV.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Colombia URL: http://www.urcvproject.org/uploads/Medellin_URCV.pdf Shelf Number: 127139 Keywords: Urban AreasUrban ViolenceUrban Violence (Medellín, Colombia)Violent Crime |
Author: Broid, Daniel Title: Urban Resilience in Situations of Chronic Violence Case Study of Mexico City, Mexico Summary: This report documents five cases of urban resilience in the face of chronic violence in Mexico City. Rather than examining the history and origins of violence, it focuses on the ways that citizens, the private sector, and governing officials have responded to violence through a series of coping and violence reduction strategies. It does so by examining the agents and strategies of resilience in five different locations spread across the historic central city and a more peripheral neighborhood. The report shows that projects or interventions where public authorities, citizens, and the private sector came together produced more effective and sustainable resilience than did interventions produced by only one or the other of these actors. Multi-stakeholder collaboration created clear channels of communication, increased the accountability of public agencies, and enabled ongoing discussion and implementation of new strategies that could proactively be deployed to meet future security needs. The report also highlights the difficulties in finding ways to sustain relationships between the public authorities and community residents in the absence of strong private sector pressures and/or organized civil society presence, finding these problems more common in low-income residential neighborhoods where urban violence also tended to be concentrated. Nevertheless, the report suggests that recent urban redevelopment priorities for downtown Mexico City have been relatively successful in pushing back against violence and its perpetrators. By examining them more carefully, it is possible to see how and resilience is fostered through connections among city planning authorities, commercial interests and civil society organizations. Details: Cambridge, MA: Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2012. 34p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 7, 2012 at: http://www.urcvproject.org/uploads/Mexico_URCV.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Mexico URL: http://www.urcvproject.org/uploads/Mexico_URCV.pdf Shelf Number: 127140 Keywords: Urban AreasUrban ViolenceViolence (Mexico City, Mexico)Violent Crime |
Author: Denyer-Willis, Graham Title: Urban Resilience in Situations of Chronic Violence Case Study of Sao Paulo, Brazil Summary: This report documents urban resilience to chronic violence in São Paulo. As one of the world’s largest urban conurbations, São Paulo is marked by contrasting patterns of urbanization. These patterns are emblematic of different examples of state-society relations and reflect the differing ways that the state has been present (or not) in the provision of goods and services. Specifically in downtown São Paulo, the state was a lead actor in directing urban development, enforcing regulations, providing infrastructure, ensuring security. In contrast, its presence on the poorer periphery was more distant, as this is where expansion was haphazard, homes self-constructed and security almost absent. These patterns of urbanizations are tied to different histories of violence as well as possibilities for resilience across São Paulo. This report examines how state-society relations condition community responses to violence. It explores the ways in which a community is constituted vis-à-vis the presence of the state and how this influences resilience in volatile security environments. It does so by focusing on two neighborhoods of São Paulo: Luz, in the historical center of the city, and Santo Diego, on the urban periphery, or periferia, a colloquial term in that carries heavy insinuations of criminalized space, unplanned sprawl and high rates of poverty and violence. This report examines how state-society relations condition community responses to violence. It explores the ways in which a community is constituted vis-à-vis the presence of the state and how this influences resilience in volatile security environments. It does so by focusing on two neighborhoods of São Paulo: Luz, in the historical center of the city, and Santo Diego, on the urban periphery, or periferia, a colloquial term in that carries heavy insinuations of criminalized space, unplanned sprawl and high rates of poverty and violence. Details: Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for International Studies; Washington, DC: United States Agency for International Development, 2012. 134p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 16, 2012 at Year: 2012 Country: Brazil URL: Shelf Number: 127221 Keywords: Urban AreasUrban ViolenceViolence (Sao Paulo, Brazil)Violent Crime |
Author: Humansecurity-cities.org. Title: Human Security for an urban Century: Local Challenges, Global Perspectives Summary: The objective of this project has been to examine in detail the nature and scale of organized armed violence in urban areas and to explore the value of bringing a human security lens to the challenges posed by cities at the beginning of an “Urban Century.” For the first time in history, the majority of people now live in cities. Rapid urbanization is already shaping trends in global peace and security. Armed violence is increasingly taking place in sprawling hillside slums, involving adolescent boys with automatic weapons, corrupt police officers determined to “clean up” city streets, or vigilante groups who take justice into their own hands. The violence feeds on the toxic mix of transnational criminal organizations and failed public security. This book is the product of a unique research partnership between the Human Security Research and Outreach Program of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, and the Canadian Consortium on Human Security, a research network operated through the University of British Columbia’s Centre of International Relations. Over the past year, our two organizations have together explored the issues of human security in urban spaces. Through this partnership, we have sponsored expert dialogues and conferences, supported graduate student research awards, created a new website (www.humansecurity-cities.org), and presented our early findings to international experts at the United Nations World Urban Forum in Vancouver in June 2006. These research and outreach efforts were critical to the identification of a new community of expertise relevant to the human security and cities agenda. This book provides an overview of what we have learned from these expert consultations. It provides a collection of contributions from 40 leading academics, civil society experts, government officials, and graduate students woven together with a general narrative that tells a compelling story about the human security challenges and opportunities we will face. Among its main conclusions is that building secure cities — cities with effective public security; inclusive, participatory governance; and positive social capital — will be critical to the prevention of armed violence and the protection of civilian populations from such violence when prevention fails. This research suggests that achieving “cities without slums” — the 11th target of the seventh UN Millennium Development Goal — will require a clear recognition of the linkages between security and development. It also suggests that much more work is required by researchers and policy makers in order to fully understand the profound implications rapid urbanization holds for for the human security agenda. Details: Ottawa: humansecurity-cities.org, 2007. 112p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 17, 2013 at: http://www.eukn.org/E_library/Security_Crime_Prevention/Security_Crime_Prevention/Human_security_for_an_urban_century_local_challenges_global_perspectives Year: 2007 Country: International URL: http://www.eukn.org/E_library/Security_Crime_Prevention/Security_Crime_Prevention/Human_security_for_an_urban_century_local_challenges_global_perspectives Shelf Number: 127337 Keywords: Armed ViolenceCrime PreventionUrban AreasUrban CrimeUrban ViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Nowak, Matthias Title: Urban Armed Violence Summary: Currently the majority of the world’s population lives in urban settlements. Cities are important sites of opportunities and contribute to economic growth and development, yet they also face many challenges; e.g. increasing numbers of urban residents live in poverty, lack basic services, and suffer high levels of armed violence and insecurity. With the growth of the urban population, urban armed violence is increasingly recognized as a major issue confronting efforts to safeguard urban human security and safety. But urban settlements also provide space for innovation and creativity in dealing with human security needs. A starting point for addressing the delicate balance between urban security needs and the opportunities that cities offer is to understand the scope and intensity of and trends in urban armed violence in order to inform context-specific and evidence-based policies and interventions. This Research Note addresses the state of research into and some of the main debates around urban armed violence. It draws on relevant literature and research and in particular on work done by the Small Arms Survey and the Geneva Declaration Secretariat in this area. Firstly, it briefly introduces data and research findings on sub-national and city-level armed violence, with a particular focus on lethal violence. The second section examines the use of firearms in urban violence. The following section summarizes some of the main debates and questions around researching, preventing, and reducing urban armed violence. The Research Note concludes with some recommendations for policy and further research. Details: Geneva, SWIT: Small Arms Survey, 2012. 4p. Source: Internet Resource: Small Arms Survey Research Notes, Number 23: Accessed January 24, 2013 at: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/H-Research_Notes/SAS-Research-Note-23.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/H-Research_Notes/SAS-Research-Note-23.pdf Shelf Number: 127376 Keywords: Armed ViolenceGun ViolenceUrban AreasUrban ViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Gratius, Susanne Title: Youth, Identity and Security: Synthesis Report Summary: The latest synthesis report summarizes the research that was produced as part of the cluster on youth, identity and security of the Initiative for Peacebuilding – Early Warning Analysis to Action (IfP-EW). The cluster scrutinized different approaches toward youth and urban violence with a special focus on the gender perspective. This latest report combines the results of case studies conducted as part of the project and provides recommendations for European policy-makers. Today, rapid and unregulated urbanization and chronic urban violence are some of the leading concerns of policy-makers. Urban centres are home to half of the world’s population and some of the world’s highest homicide rates occur in urban areas of countries which are not at war. The report Youth, Identity and Security deals with the diverse approaches to youth and urban violence based on case studies in eight countries: Brazil, Cape Verde, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Mozambique and Venezuela. Though violence outbreaks occur predominantly in underprivileged neighbourhoods in developing countries, the report underlines that it is not so much poverty or “underdevelopment” which foster urban youth violence. The social status and the possibilities of being a gang member appeal young people and motivate them to resort to violence. The report argues that policy-makers, both at the national and international level, should not consider violent youth as isolated target groups or as threats. Rather, they should be perceived as mirroring society itself and as indicators of discriminatory state policies. The report calls for a paradigm shift in approaching urban violence: considering it a product of socio-economic and political reality rather than exclusively a public security issue. It should therefore be treated as a horizontal issue, concerning not only the justice and public security policy sectors, but also education, employment and health. Details: Brussels: Initiative for Peacebuilding - Early Warning, 2012. 22p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 17, 2013 at: http://www.interpeace.org/2011-08-08-15-19-20/latest-news/2012/358-youth-identity-and-security Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://www.interpeace.org/2011-08-08-15-19-20/latest-news/2012/358-youth-identity-and-security Shelf Number: 129435 Keywords: Urban AreasUrban ViolenceViolence (International)Violence Crime |
Author: Campie, Patricia E. Title: Strategies to Prevent Urban Violence. A Companion Report to the SSYI Evidence and Implementation Review Summary: The Massachusetts Safe and Successful Youth Initiative (SSYI) commissioned a review of strategies utilized by the federal government, states and cities trying to address serious youth violence among older youth ages 14-24. The goal of this work is to provide Massachusetts with a sense of where its own violence prevention efforts fit among the range of initiatives implemented in localities nationwide and provide additional insights on strategies that SSYI may want to employ in the future. This strategy review complements the 2013 report "What Works to Prevent Urban Violence Among Proven Risk Young Men? The Safe and Successful Youth Initiative Evidence and Implementation Review". In that report, the SSYI evaluation team reviewed the state of the research on effective urban violence prevention programs targeting highest risk older youth, ages 14-24. Taken together, the guidance from research on effective programs and high quality implementation, along with the best thinking from state and local policymakers, provide SSYI with valuable information to inform SSYI moving forward. Details: Boston, MA: Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, 2013. 47p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 3, 2014 at: http://www.air.org/sites/default/files/downloads/report/Strategies%20to%20Prevent%20Urban%20Violence.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.air.org/sites/default/files/downloads/report/Strategies%20to%20Prevent%20Urban%20Violence.pdf Shelf Number: 132214 Keywords: At-Risk YoughCrime PreventionDelinquency PreventionUrban ViolenceViolence Prevention |
Author: Chaowsangrat, Chaowarit Title: Violence and Forced Internal Migrants with Special Reference to the Metropolitan Area of Bogota, Colombia (1990-2002) Summary: This thesis addresses topics of violence and forced internal migrants with special reference to the metropolitan area of Bogota, Colombia between 1990 and 2002. While there is much scholarly debate by historians and political scientists about conflict between the state, guerrillas and paramilitaries in rural areas, urban violence has been relatively neglected. Violence caused many people to migrate from rural to urban areas, so that, Colombia had by 2002 more internally displaced persons than any country except Sudan. The main aims of the thesis are 1) to analyse trends in violent crime; 2) to discuss citizen security strategies that were pursued between 1990 and 2002; and 3) to examine the survival strategies of forced internal migrants in Bogota comparing them to the strategies adopted by voluntary migrants and native residents. Chapter 1 focuses on urban homicide and kidnapping. In Colombia, 40 percent of the 25,000 annual homicides were committed in the ten largest cities during the late 1990s. The problem of kidnapping is examined by analysing changes in Colombian anti-kidnapping legislation and its application and by focusing on the authors, the victims and the risk-zones involved. Chapter 2 looks at the issue of perception and fear of violent crime. The concept of risk and the subjectivity of decision-making when facing insecurity are examined. Chapter 3 investigates citizen security strategies during the administrations of Presidents Cesar Gaviria (1990-1994), Ernesto Samper (1994- 1998) and Andres Pastrana (1998-2002). Chapter 4 develops an analysis of patterns of selectivity based on the notions of forced vis-a-vis voluntary migration and economic vis-a-vis non-economic migration. A research design collecting comparative data on households with diverse migration experiences residing in three locations within the metropolitan area of Bogota is applied. Chapter 5 explores the socioeconomic characteristics of forced migrants and compares them to voluntary migrants from outside and migrants who moved within Bogota. Details: London: University College London, 2011. 472p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed August 22, 2014 at: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1331874/1/1331874.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Colombia URL: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1331874/1/1331874.pdf Shelf Number: 131358 Keywords: HomicidesKidnappingMigration and CrimeUrban AreasUrban SecurityUrban ViolenceViolenceViolent Crime (Colombia) |
Author: Martin, Ellen Title: Gender, violence and survival in Juba, Southern Sudan Summary: - Five years after the formal end of the Sudanese civil war, poverty, vulnerability and insecurity remain serious problems in Juba, the Southern capital. - Incorporating gender analysis within assessment frameworks and conflict analyses can contribute to a more informed understanding amongst aid actors of the underlying dynamics of vulnerability and insecurity in Juba, and the different impacts rapid urbanisation and long-term conflict and displacement are having on men and women. - Where they exist, current approaches to gender within policy and programming overwhelmingly focus on women. There are many areas where women have unequal positions in society. However, without a broader gender analysis, one that considers the needs of both men and women, assistance risks reinforcing negative patterns of need rather than actively helping to address them. Details: London: Overseas Development Group, Humanitarian Policy Group, 2010. 6p. Source: Internet Resource: HPG Policy Brief 42: Accessed September 15, 2014 at: http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/6230.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Sudan URL: http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/6230.pdf Shelf Number: 133319 Keywords: Gender-Related Violence (Southern Sudan)Urban Violence |
Author: Pavanello, Sara Title: Survival in the City: Youth, displacement and violence in urban settings Summary: - Youth, displacement and violence in urban environments are treated as separate areas in humanitarian research, policy and practice. Despite being a key driver of vulnerability, urban violence and its humanitarian consequences are not well understood by the humanitarian community. - Displaced populations, particularly displaced youth, are often particularly exposed to urban violence. However, their needs and vulnerabilities typically go unaddressed. - Tackling the causes of violence in urban settings is a challenge that goes beyond strictly humanitarian concerns to encompass long-term development efforts. While humanitarian action is an important element of the response to urban violence it is inherently limited, and a complementary approach involving development strategies and programmes is required to tackle the root causes of this violence. Details: London: Overseas Development Institute, Humanitarian Policy Group, 2012. 4p. Source: Internet Resource: HPG Policy Brief 44: Accessed September 15, 2014 at: http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/7627.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/7627.pdf Shelf Number: 133320 Keywords: At-Risk YouthUrban Areas and CrimeUrban ViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Souza Pinheiro, Alvaro de Title: Irregular Warfare: Brazil's Fight Against Criminal Urban Guerrillas Summary: This monograph by Major General Alvaro de Souza Pinheiro contributes to the discussion of urban guerrillas, their impact on society, and the role of the armed forces in countering criminal elements. The rise of urban guerrillas is a result of an evolution in command and control capabilities, weapons, and doctrine that has given them strong influence over the daily lives of citizens living in neighborhoods where government support and control is limited or absent. The favelas (ghettos, slums) of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo are ready examples that provide the setting for General Alvaro's monograph. The urban guerrilla, however, is emblematic of a wider-felt problem, not limited to Brazil. What makes General Alvaro's monograph compelling is that this Brazilian story has universal application in many locales that are under-governed and under-supported by constituted authorities. Urban guerrillas flow from a witch's brew of ersatz political doctrine, readily available and powerful weapons, and criminal gangs that typically are financed by the drug trade. Criminal groups like the Red Command (Comando Vermelho-CV) and Third Command have been able to thrive in the favelas because of ineffective policing and lack of government interest. These Brazilian gangs have filled the void with their own form of governance. As General Alvaro indicates herein, criminal urban guerrillas have latched on to revolutionary doctrine, such as the Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla and the First Capital Command Statute, so as to give political legitimacy to their lawlessness. In fact, these are gangs that terrorize the residents of the favelas, holding them hostage to criminal exploits, while keeping government legitimacy and security in check. As in the United States, when the general welfare of civil society is at risk, the President may call upon the armed forces to aid the police or take control. Under the Brazilian Constitution the President can "intervene -- to put an end to serious jeopardy to public order --" through his power to "decree and enforce federal intervention." This is akin to the U.S. President's authorities for civil disturbances and other emergencies, but a notable difference is the expansive role that Brazilian armed forces can take. Under the Brazilian Constitution the armed forces "are intended for the defense of the Country, for the guarantee of the constitutional powers [legislative, executive, judicial], and, on the initiative of any of these, of law and order." Thus during the crisis to restore public order in Rio de Janeiro in November 1994 through January 1995, the military was put in charge as the lead agency, with operational control over federal and state police. With Presidential authorization, the Brazilian Minister of the Army designated the Eastern Military Commander as the General Commander of Operations. Operation Rio commenced with the goals of reducing urban violence and reestablishing government authority. Operations consisted of isolating lawless areas, conducting squad patrols and large sweeps, and on several occasions, attacking the urban guerrilla directly. The operation suppressed urban guerrilla activity-for a time. There was a decrease in bank robberies, car thefts, gang shootouts, drug trafficking and weapons smuggling, plus some 300 automatic rifles and 500 hand guns were confiscated. Yet as General Alvaro illustrates in this monograph, the problem persists today with similar public order crises in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and other cities. It is for good reason that General Alvaro includes in this monograph a translation of Carlos Marighella's Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla, since the man and his manual continue to inspire miscreants and would-be revolutionary groups. Much as psychiatrist-philosopher Frantz Fanon provided a rationale for African anticolonialists to kill the white interlopers, Marighella is a symbol for ideological activists who would resist authority, as well as for criminals who profit when government presence and legitimacy are wanting. The military planner and strategist should be familiar with the Minimanual and similar writings since they contribute to the development of the strategic environment as we find it, and it is against this backdrop that we plan for countering insurgencies and terrorism. The military will continue to play an important part in countering the urban guerrilla, whose goal is to separate the population from the government (typically by making government forces overreact) then supplanting it. This suggests that the military will need to conduct a range of irregular warfare activities in coordination with civilian agencies. Whatever the combination of direct and indirect actions that are applied to counter the urban guerrilla, the military planner will be well served to consider General Alvaro's insights about Brazil's Fight Against Criminal Urban Guerrillas. Details: Hurlburt Field, FL: Joint Special Operations University, 2009. 98p. Source: Internet Resource: JSOU Report 09-8: Accessed March 12, 2016 at: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/2009/0909_jsou-report-09-8.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Brazil URL: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/2009/0909_jsou-report-09-8.pdf Shelf Number: 138195 Keywords: Criminal NetworksDrug TraffickingFavelasGangsOrganized CrimeUrban GuerrillasUrban ViolenceViolent CrimeWeapons Smuggling |
Author: Carter, Rebecca L. Title: The Blessed Placemakers: Violent Crime, Moral Transformation, and Urban Redevelopment in Post-Katrina New Orleans. Summary: This doctoral dissertation is an ethnographic and social-geographic examination of peacemaking and placemaking in the urban delta. It traces the ways in which people dwell within unsettled and liminal places at the edge or margin of change, working to creatively remake their lives and worlds despite persistent conditions of vulnerability and loss. Based on two years of comparative fieldwork in New Orleans, it reveals the challenges, ways of being, and transformations that emerge in the aftermath of disaster, in the midst of recovery and redevelopment, and in response to ongoing social problems, particularly the impact of urban violence. While violent crime has long been a problem in New Orleans, it has particular significance in the post-disaster setting. People are asking: How do we stop the violence and reclaim our lives and city? And in particular, what are the values - moral, ethical, religious and other - that should carry us forward? The dissertation follows four local moral and religious communities who address these questions, immersed in active and embodied processes of healing and reform for self, community, city, and society. Case studies include a Catholic "peace prayer" group praying for an end to violence and the moral conversion of non-believers; practitioners of Haitian Vodou conducting "anticrime ceremonies" in targeted city neighborhoods; a Baptist church leading anti-violence and grief recovery ministries; and an Episcopal social justice ministry focused on the restoration of humanity for all victims of violence. Their rich narratives demonstrate that peacemaking and placemaking are driven by the acquisition, application, and promotion of distinct moral and religious bodies of knowledge. Expanding on existing investigations of moral geographies and forms of indigenous 'wisdom,' therefore, the research finds that it is through these site-specific forms of urban 'wisdom' that residents work to reconcile the past while refashioning the present and future. Local moralities extend through larger religious and other sheltering institutions to support the growth and promotion of moral and religious frameworks to guide urban redevelopment and reform. The efforts of these groups, including the obstacles they face, reveal the complexity of moral and religious civic engagement, in vulnerable urban settings. Details: Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, 2010. 403p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed April 13, 2016 at: https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/78861/rlcart_1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/78861/rlcart_1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Shelf Number: 138654 Keywords: DisastersReligionUrban Areas and CrimeUrban ViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Apraxine, Pierre Title: Urban Violence and Humanitarian Challenges Summary: This second colloquium organised jointly by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) aimed to present the causes and humanitarian consequences of urban violence, as well as related trends and challenges for the European Union and humanitarian actors. Two case studies have been selected, focusing on different types of violence affecting urban environments. The first case study examines pilot projects to address humanitarian needs arising from organised crime and gang violence in megacities; the second is an analysis of the humanitarian challenges emerging from urban violence in the context of uprisings, referring specifically to the lessons learned from the protests in the Arab world. Urban violence represents numerous challenges for policy makers and humanitarian actors alike. Today, more than half of the world's population lives in cities and it appears that urban centres will absorb almost all new population growth in the coming decades. It has therefore become increasingly important to understand the dynamics of violence in an urban setting. By bringing together experts, academics and representatives from various relief organisations, the ICRC and the EUISS hope to have contributed to the debate and spurred further interest in this increasingly important issue. The present publication includes summaries of both the presentations provided by the speakers and the discussions held during the colloquium. Details: Paris: EU Institute for Security Studies, 2012. 88p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 16, 2016 at: http://www.iss.europa.eu/uploads/media/Urban_violence_and_humanitarian_challenges.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Europe URL: http://www.iss.europa.eu/uploads/media/Urban_violence_and_humanitarian_challenges.pdf Shelf Number: 125774 Keywords: Gang ViolenceNeighborhoods and CrimeOrganized CrimePublic DisorderUrban Areas and CrimeUrban Violence |
Author: Hoelscher, Kristian Title: Understanding Unlikely Successes in Urban Violence Reduction Summary: The problems of violence in Latin America are often reiterated, yet understanding how and why violence declines is far less common. While urban violence takes different forms and has a range of motivations, we suggest that strengthening political and social institutions are important in violence reduction processes. The article examines this using a comparative analysis of two cities which have recently seen unusual and marked reductions in lethal violence: Bogota in Colombia and Recife in Brazil. Drawing on primary data collection, the case studies suggest improvements in public security are linked with institutionalising progressive security policies, increasing accountability of political institutions, and social reforms encouraging civic values and commitments to non-violence. While findings are specific to these two cases, they may plausibly apply to a broader range of cities, such that commitments to improve public policy and political institutions can overcome structural risk factors that foster violence. Details: Unpublished paper, 2014. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 11, 2016 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2461064 Year: 2014 Country: Latin America URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2461064 Shelf Number: 139395 Keywords: Public SecurityUrban AreasUrban CrimeUrban ViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: McGee, Rosie Title: Power, Violence, Citizenship and Agency: A Colombian Case Study Summary: In a situation of longstanding and complex violent conflict in Buenaventura, Colombia, we used action research to explore with social activists what power, violence, citizenship and agency mean to them and how they experience and exercise citizen agency in relation to the violence. This Working Paper presents our conceptual and theoretical starting points, action research process and findings. Direct violence was at a peak in urban Buenaventura when the action research was conducted, manifest in some particularly macabre forms. Yet in exploring the interconnections between power, violence and active citizenship, what emerged most strongly were structural and symbolic violence. These are experienced by Buenaventura citizens in ways that correspond to certain power theorists' interpretations of 'invisible power'. Most citizens have yielded to the encroachment of violent norms, language and imaginaries, allowing these to infuse their social roles and interactions and the socialisation of children and youth. The action research participants, however, represented a minority of active citizens who respond differently to direct, structural and symbolic violence. They navigate it using a range of responses: innovative organisational practices; mould-breaking models of social leadership; the de-legitimation of violent actors, actions and attitudes; and other visible and invisible expressions of individual and collective resistance to the violent re-shaping of norms, beliefs and values. The case study highlights the interconnected nature of direct, structural and symbolic forms of violence; contributes to theorising invisible power from this grounded and richly contextual perspective; illustrates the shortcomings of simplistic assumptions about citizen engagement in fragile and violent contexts and the importance of 'seeing like a citizen'; and sheds light on debates about citizen agency and structuration in processes of social change. Details: London: Institute of Development Studies, 2016. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: IDS Working Paper 474: Accessed August 30, 2016 at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/12139/Wp474.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Year: 2016 Country: Colombia URL: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/12139/Wp474.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Shelf Number: 140100 Keywords: Urban AreasUrban ViolenceViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: International Crisis Group Title: Boulevard of Broken Dreams: The "Street" and Politics in DR Congo Summary: The Democratic Republic of Congo's Joseph Kabila is dragging his feet on kick-starting the country's constitutionally-mandated presidential elections. By pursuing his own interests, Kabila is running the risk of triggering violent popular anger in the country's urban centers and a heavy-handed response by security forces. This ICG report lays out what should be done to work through the current political impasse. Details: Brussels/Narobi: International Crisis Group, 2016. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 8, 2016 at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/57ff4d3a4.html Year: 2016 Country: Congo, Democratic Republic URL: Shelf Number: 146286 Keywords: Political CorruptionProtest MovementsUrban Violence |
Author: Arevalo de Leon, Bernardo Title: Armed Social Violence and Peacebuilding: Towards an operational approch Summary: Until recently, the international community showed limited interest in the problem of violence in society. If it was not part of an international conflict or an expression of internal political turmoil, social violence in its different forms – criminal violence, inter-communal violence, gender violence, etc. – was considered inconsequential to the international system, inexistent for international policy and irrelevant to statecentred scientific disciplines such as political science and international relations. With the demise of the Cold War, however, it became evident that these forms of violence threatened important international development goals and security interests, and that even though non-political in motivation, they had significant political effects at the national and international levels. Whether it be international drugtrafficking networks encroaching on the emerging state institutions of Guinea-Bissau, or youth gang violence in El Salvador driving homicide rates that are higher in peacetime than during the civil war, or criminal violence creating “violent pockets” that condemn urban populations to a life of violence in Brazil, or socio-economic tensions resulting in xenophobic violence in South Africa: all these examples are expressions of an emerging global phenomenon that will here be called armed social violence. The conceptual and operational frameworks required by the international community to effectively address these phenomena are still incipient. Attempts to transpose the conventional “political conflict violence” paradigm to situations of armed social violence have not been effective, and important efforts are being undertaken by the academic and international policy communities to better understand the nature of the problem and determine the strategies that should be adopted. Public health approaches to violence, security sector engagement with small arms proliferation and citizen security, and international coordination on transnational organised crime are expressions of this trend. Important insights are beginning to emerge from these different fields on the nature of the problem and the elements needed to address it. Peacebuilding has been a latecomer to these efforts. It emerged in the last decade of the twentieth century as part of the international peace and conflict continuum, originally addressing the post-conflict phase of “conventional” situations of violence. While peacebuilding initially ignored issues of social violence, evidence of the negative impact of this form of violence on the consolidation of peace became unequivocal. It has given rise to innovative approaches, such as the work of the Pailig Foundation on community-level gun violence in Mindanao, Interpeace’s work with youth gang violence in El Salvador and Honduras, and Viva Rio’s experience in crime mitigation in Rio de Janeiro and Port-au-Prince (Banfield 2014; Aguilar Umaña/Arévalo de León/Tager 2014). This paper proposes that the inclusive and participatory methodologies offered by peacebuilding approaches provide an operational strategy that allows the international community to engage effectively with issues of armed social violence. Instead of the reliance on theoretically grounded conceptual frameworks and internationally defined generic policies, the dialogue and research methodologies of peacebuilding allow the development of a highly granular, context-specific understanding of the social dynamics of each phenomenon and mobilise stakeholders to take collaborative and complementary action across the state-society divide. Section Two of this paper examines existing approaches to understanding the phenomenon of armed social violence, starting with some insights into the role of violence in state-formation processes (2.1). We proceed to review ongoing discussions on the nature of violence and conflict in the contemporary world (2.2), before discussing two of its most prominent and challenging expressions: urban violence and organised crime (2.3). The section closes with some reflections on the features common to all manifestations of armed social violence (2.4). Section Three focuses on policy responses to these challenges, identifying the key features of standard development and security approaches and the limitations that have rendered them ineffective (3.1), before discussing the characteristics and merits of peacebuilding approaches to contexts of armed social violence (3.2). We also examine the challenges that peacebuilding still needs to address in order to contribute more effectively to the design and implementation of viable operational strategies for addressing armed social violence. We then propose a series of concrete policy recommendations to the international community (3.3). The contribution closes in Section Four with some reflections and conclusions that summarise the key points of our argument, pointing out the added value that peacebuilding can bring to the development of effective policy responses to armed social violence. Details: Berlin: Berghof Foundation, 2016. 30p. Source: http://www.berghof-foundation.org/fileadmin/redaktion/Publications/Handbook/Dialogue_Chapters/dialogue12_ArevalodeLeonTager_lead.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Latin America URL: http://www.berghof-foundation.org/fileadmin/redaktion/Publications/Handbook/Dialogue_Chapters/dialogue12_ArevalodeLeonTager_lead.pdf Shelf Number: 141123 Keywords: Organized Crime Urban ViolenceViolence Violent Crime |
Author: Braga, Anthony A. Title: The Police and Public Discourse on "Black-on-Black" Violence Summary: Research has long documented that most violence occurs within racial groups and that black Americans - often victimized by black offenders - experience disproportionately high levels of violent crime. The authors argue that the term "black-on-black" violence, while statistically correct, is a simplistic and emotionally-charged definition of urban violence that can be problematic when used by political commentators, politicians, and police executives. Because the police represent the most visible face of government and have primary responsibility for maintaining public safety in all neighborhoods, Braga and Brunson contend that police executives in particular should avoid framing urban violence problems in this way. Details: Cambridge, MA: Harvard Kennedy School, Program on Criminal Justice Policy and Management, 2015. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: New Perspectives in Policing: Accessed November 14, 2016 at: http://www.nccpsafety.org/assets/files/library/The_Police_and_Public_Discourse_on_Black-on-Black_Violence.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://www.nccpsafety.org/assets/files/library/The_Police_and_Public_Discourse_on_Black-on-Black_Violence.pdf Shelf Number: 146645 Keywords: Minorities and CrimeUrban Areas and CrimeUrban CrimeUrban ViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Olson, Eric L. Title: Improving Citizen Security in the Americas: Why Taking an Urban Approach is Warranted Summary: The urbanization of the world's population has been underway for many decades. In Latin America, over 75 percent of the population lives in cities, and this number is expected to reach approximately 90 percent by 2050 (Muggah 2014, 351). With urbanization has come a wide variety of challenges, including water and sanitation; urban planning and transportation; housing, education, and healthcare; and environmental concerns. It is not surprising, then, that cities and metropolitan areas also experience special challenges with crime and public security. This is especially the case in Latin America, a region that faces some of the highest rates of urban violence in the world (Muggah 2014, 351). According to one analysis, Latin America contains 43 of the world's 50 most violent cities (CCSPJP 2015). The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) produces one of the most widely cited sources of information on homicides worldwide. While the UNODC offers data about urban homicide rates, most of the public debate centers around national-level figures expressed in terms of deaths per 100,000. In 2016, for example, El Salvador was reported as the country with the highest homicide rate-an alarming 81.2 homicides per 100,000 (Gagne 2017). At the regional level, Latin America also fared poorly: a UNODC report on global homicide stated that the Central and South American sub-regions experienced the second and third highest homicide levels, preceded only by Southern Africa (UNODC 2013). According to a criminality index generated by security consulting firm Verisk Maplecroft, five of the ten countries with the highest risk for criminal violence are in Latin America: Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Venezuela, and El Salvador. National and regional levels of homicide and crime, however, can actually paint a misleading picture of security at the local level. Many specific areas in the region, especially urban areas, experience rates of violence much higher (or lower) than average. For this reason, stemming urban violence at the local level and addressing the underlying factors driving this phenomenon has been an increasingly important policy concern for Latin American governments, the international donor community, and U.S. policymakers in particular. Security is a main concern for the public as well: in 2014, one out of every three adults in the Americas reported that crime, insecurity, or violence was the main problem facing their country (Zeichmeister 2014). In this paper, we seek to summarize some of the principal characteristics and drivers of urban violence in order to develop more targeted and effective policies to address it. First, we discuss how major structural problems like youth unemployment and inequality are related to common crime, organized crime, and violence. We emphasize the importance of understanding the local nature of urban violence and its tendency to occur and persist in specific geographic locations. Next, we look at some examples from the region that shed light on, and in some cases, confirm these ideas. Finally, we offer a series of policy options for addressing one of the region's most persistent and vexing challenges Details: Washington, DC: Wilson Center, Latin American Program, 2017. 15p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 6, 2017 at: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/citizen_security_policy_brief_final.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Latin America URL: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/citizen_security_policy_brief_final.pdf Shelf Number: 144739 Keywords: Citizen SecurityHomicideNeighborhoods and CrimeUrban Areas and CrimeUrban ViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Nowak, Matthias Title: Handmade and Deadly: Craft Production of Small Arms in Nigeria Summary: Craft weapons production in Nigeria is under-researched, yet it is highly relevant for any future actions to counter small arms and light weapons proliferation. This Briefing Paper provides new research findings based on extensive fieldwork in four Nigerian states (Adamawa, Anambra, Benue, and Plateau). It reviews demand and supply factors that shape the craft market in Nigeria, finding that demand is driven by insecurity and conflict, but also by cultural and societal factors. Supply is mostly demand driven. The quality of the products and production methods varies greatly across the surveyed states. Craft production poses a significant challenge for the Nigerian state and will require a mix of holistic measures to regulate or deter it, ranging from improving security (and security perceptions) and the relationship between security providers and communities, to licensing, measures aimed at providing alternative livelihoods for craft producers, and a more comprehensive application of the relevant legal framework. Key findings About one-fifth (17 per cent) of civilian, rural weapons holders countrywide possess craft weapons and one-tenth in urban areas, according to preliminary findings from the National Small Arms and Light Weapons Survey (NSALWS). Craft producers employ a range of blacksmithing techniques, and the type and quality of their weapons vary greatly, ranging from muzzle-loading 'Dane guns' to 9 mm semiautomatic pistols based on Beretta models, and to assault rifles and sub-machine guns. Break-action shotguns and pistols are the most popular craft weapons produced in surveyed states. Craft weapons are mostly purchased to protect and defend individuals and communities. Many producers are convinced that craft production is a form of community service in times of heightened insecurity. Craft weapons are frequently purchased because of their ease of access and reduced price, which is up to four times cheaper than their industrially produced counterparts. Craft weapons are often produced in clandestine workshops that safeguard blacksmiths' anonymity and safety. Details: Geneva, SWIT: Small Arms Survey, 2018. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Briefing Paper: Accessed June 13, 2018 at: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/T-Briefing-Papers/SAS-BP-Nigeria-craft-weapons.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Nigeria URL: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/T-Briefing-Papers/SAS-BP-Nigeria-craft-weapons.pdf Shelf Number: 150528 Keywords: Gun Violence Gun-Related Violence Urban ViolenceWeapons and Firearms |