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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 12:50 am
Time: 12:50 am
Results for violent crime (latin america)
3 results foundAuthor: Soares, Rodrigo Title: Understanding High Crime Rates in Latin America: The Role of Social and Policy Factors Summary: This paper discusses the pattern, causes and consequence of the high crime rates observed in Latin America. Crime represents a substantial welfare loss and a potentially serious hindrance to growth. We conduct an informal assessment of the relative strength of the alternative hypotheses raised in the literature to explain the phenomenon. We argue that, despite being extremely high, the incidence of crime in the region is not much different from what should be expected based on socioeconomic and public policy characteristics of its countries. Estimates from the empirical literature suggest that most of its seemingly excessively high violence can be explained by three factors: high inequality, low incarceration rates, and small police forces. Still, country specific experiences have been different in many respects. The evidence suggests that effective policies toward violence reduction do exist and have been shown to work within the context of Latin America itself. Details: Manuscript originally prepared for the conference "Confronting Crime and Violence in Latin America: Crafting a Public Policy Agenda, July 2007. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 9, 2010 at: http://www.sebh.ecn.br/seminario_5/arquivo1.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Central America URL: http://www.sebh.ecn.br/seminario_5/arquivo1.pdf Shelf Number: 120410 Keywords: HomicideSocioeconomic ConditionsViolenceViolent Crime (Latin America) |
Author: Costa, Gino Title: Citizen Security in Latin America Summary: Several indicators are used to measure insecurity, violence and crime. In assessing the status of citizen security in Latin America, this study briefly presents and discusses some of them— namely, homicide, which indicates levels of violence; victimization, which is an expression of the intensity of crimes against property; perceptions of insecurity, which refer to the level of fear in the face of criminal activities; confidence in the police agencies responsible for preventing and investigating crime; and the state of the prison system. Details: Washington, DC: Latin America Working Group, Inter-American Dialogue, 2012. 14p. Source: Inter-American Dialogue Working Paper: Internet Resource: Accessed March 9, 2012 at http://www.thedialogue.org/PublicationFiles/GinoCostaEnglishFINAL.PDF Year: 2012 Country: Central America URL: http://www.thedialogue.org/PublicationFiles/GinoCostaEnglishFINAL.PDF Shelf Number: 124394 Keywords: Corrections (Latin America)Fear of Crime (Latin America)Homicide (Latin America)Police-Community Relations (Latin America)Victimization (Latin America)Violent Crime (Latin America) |
Author: Cohen, Mark A. Title: Violence and Crime in Latin America Summary: The public survey that was conducted by the IDB for this project identified the problem of “crime and violence” to be one of the areas of major concern in Latin America. In particular, the following items were identified (in descending or perceived priority): (a) high incidence of crime, (b) drug trafficking, (c) proliferation of violent youth gangs, (d) pervasiveness of money laundering, and (e) frequency of domestic violence. In conducting the research for this present paper, we evaluated the nature of the evidence on the extent to which these perceived issues would rise to the level of being “significant,” as well as the evidence on “what works” and what the benefits and costs are from programs that have been shown to be effective. Setting the boundaries of our analysis was a difficult task, but one that we needed to do in order to arrive at a solutions document that would be of value to policy makers. For example, while most incidents of crime and violence are essentially “local,” the causes and potential solutions to crime might lie well outside the local or even national jurisdiction. This is true globally – where many types of crimes are clearly of a global character and require more than local solutions. There are several very stark examples of this problem in the case of crime and violence in Latin America. For example, the demand for drugs in the U.S. and Europe will have an impact on the supply of drugs in various Latin American countries – and hence will impact organized crime and gang-related violence. Because these markets operate outside of traditional legal institutions, enforcement of property rights disputes, for example, also take place outside normal legal channels – hence contributing to the demand for violence itself. Moreover, because the demand for drugs is coming outside of Latin America, any attempt to reduce the supply of drugs in one “hot spot” country in Latin America will ultimately backfire as drug production is shifted to another country to keep up with the demand. There is good evidence that this has happened repeatedly in Latin America. Thus, without global solutions, a Latin American solution to this problem is unlikely to succeed. Drug and terrorism policy in the U.S. and Europe can also affect crime and violence in Latin America. For example, the U.S. war on drugs has led to the extradition of drug lords – something that has destabilized the Colombian drug market, for example, with the ultimate effect of more violence between organized drug cartels to gain control over local areas. This contrasts with the approach taken in Europe which is largely to treat drugs as a ‘consumption’ problem at home. Similarly, some researchers have suggested that immigration and prison policies in the U.S. affect crime and gang-related violence in Latin America. For example, illegal immigrants who have committed crimes while in the U.S. will serve time in prison and then be deported to their home country. To the extent that returning prisoners have joined gangs in U.S. prisons and transfer knowledge and experience back to their home countries – this exacerbates the gang violence problem in the home country. In this paper, we take these factors as exogenous and beyond the scope of our immediate concern – which is to identify the most cost-beneficial programs that can be implemented in Latin America to reduce crime and violence given the current situation and institutions within which we have to work. Policy discussions over crime and violence in Latin America have oftentimes been framed using political and ideological themes. Thus, for example, calls for more police and tougher prison sentences are often seen as attempts by the “right” to control the underclass. Similarly, calls for prevention programs through better education, jobs, and an enhanced standard of living to reduce the desirability of illegal occupations are often seen as “socialist” solutions by the right. Given this political backdrop as well as the fact that the field of criminology itself has historical roots in sociology, there is scant empirical evidence on either the extent of criminal behavior or the effectiveness of prevention or control strategies in Latin America. Police records are notoriously poor – and often generated by corrupt politicians or police administrations to support their point of view. There have only been a few comprehensive victimization surveys in some countries, and any significant crosscountry comparisons that can be made are of only limited value unlike more detailed surveys in the U.S. and Europe. There are also no reliable indicators of drugs or arms trafficking or the influence of organized crime. Measures of these problems are largely indirect and subject to considerable uncertainty. Thus, in the following section on the extent of crime and violence in Latin America, the uninitiated reader might be struck by the lack of solid data – but this is a persistent problem in measuring crime and violence. Details: Unpublished paper, 2007. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Solutions Paper: Accessed June 22, 2013 at: http://www.iadb.org/res/ConsultaSanJose/files/ViolenceCrime_Cohen_SP_Final.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Central America URL: http://www.iadb.org/res/ConsultaSanJose/files/ViolenceCrime_Cohen_SP_Final.pdf Shelf Number: 112426 Keywords: Drug-Related ViolenceOrganized CrimeViolent Crime (Latin America)Youth Gangs |