Latin American Youth Crime

Violent crimes exist in both prosperous and deprived areas as well. The deprived areas are often referred to as “barrios”. It is in the barrios where organized crime leaders and street gangs set up operations. Due to criminal control or ownership of these areas, local authorities are not often capable of entering, making these areas safe havens for the criminally minded. This allows the freedom of movement within the area and results in mass criminal

Violent crimes are common issues facing the American communities. Latest statistics has indicated that U.S. is among leading countries in terms of high rates of incarceration and violent crimes. In 2013, violent crimes including rape, violent robbery, robbery as well as the serious attack happened at a rate of over 500 persons in every 100,000 persons (Benedict & Keteyian, 2013). While crimes have steadily decreased over the past few years, the U.S. still experience high prevalence. Majority of these anti-social issues mostly involve the young adults (Card & Dahl, 2011).

Youth criminal behaviour from the ages of 12-17 has been and still is a major concern for utmost cultural societies in Canada. Youth commit crimes ranging from small petty crimes to big killings; like theft, mischief, the possession of cannabis to shooting or common assaults. “Statistics Canada reported that there were almost 101,000 youth aged from 12-17 accused of criminal code violation reported by the police in 2014” (Allen & Superle, 2014, 3). “101,000 aged youths results in 4,322 per 100,000 youth population, while in the Canadian population youth make up 7% of the population, and persons accused of crime comprise of 13%” (Allen & Superle, 2014, 3). The small petty crimes youth commit are done daily. The dominant group to be committing these crimes are more males than females. One of the major crimes male youth commit is mischief, which

It is impossible to think of the modern history of Colombia without images of drug warlords, impoverished citizens, and corruption coming to mind. The history of Medellin, Colombia perfectly embodies this narrative. Once known as the “City of Everlasting Spring” due to its beautiful climate and landscape, Medellin was plunged into decades of terror in the 1980s when Pablo Escobar and the Medellin drug cartel rose to power. As Escobar led his campaign of violence and narco-trafficking, recruiting an army of adolescent assassins, Medellin became the most violent city in the world, with nearly 400 homicides per 100,000 people in the early 1990s. Impoverished children in the barrios of Medellin found themselves forced into lives of crime. Even the death of Pablo Escobar in 1993, while symbolic, did little to slow the tide of war, as the pendulum was already set in motion. When one criminal organization fell, another rose to take its place. As recently as 2002 the government was forced to deploy helicopter gunships and soldiers in the barrios in an effort to regain some semblance of control. “To put it in a word: fear. Medellin was living in fear”. Sergio Fajardo, mayor of Medellin from 2004-2007, faced the daunting task of revitalizing Medellin. Fajardo conquered endemic violence, corruption, and inequality through extensive planning and the execution of a strategy known as “urban acupuncture”, where he targeted critical areas of the city with architectural projects that serve

Violence is in many cases is either dorment and or active within a soicety, threw violence it creates fear and distrust within a community. By having this fear being a constant in citizens lives it allows for these indivudals, who are commiting these acts of volence, to manipute the public into beleiving what they want them to believe. Within the film “The Offical Story” and book A Lexicon of Terror written by Marguertie Feitlowitz, they present us with examples of what society has become during the fall of the dictoroahip in Argentina and how state terrorism is becoming “normal” in society—people not taking intrest because it occurs constently within a society.

Since 1980 and the entrance of gangs, the violence in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro has skyrocketed. Through the combination of several factors, the favelas have become very dangerous place for its residents to live in. Janice Perlman describes these factors as the ‘ingredients’ that create a ‘violence stew.’ These ‘ingredients’ each add to violence and put its residents in a more vulnerable position. Most of these ingredients are caused by a strong drug gangs, indifferent government with unaccountable police, and vulnerable poor population. Each these alone would not necessarily increase the violence seen in Rio today, but when combined together create this ‘violence stew.’

Even though some areas of Latin America are underprivileged, women are empowering themselves at both the micro and macro levels. These women are utilizing their own will and desire to seek for change by changing policies and social systems to build a global response to violence against women. In an article titled “The Struggle for Women’s Equality in Latin America” the author, Donna Goodman, states Approximately one in three women in Latin America and the Caribbean has been a victim of sexual, physical, or psychological violence at the hands of intimate partners”. The issue of violence against women has always been a serious problem not just in Latin America but the rest of the world as well. “When countries are not experiencing active conflict,

Skidmore, T. E., & Smith, P. H. (1984). Columbia: Civility and Violence. In Modern Latin America. New York: Oxford University Press

“ World’s most violent region” is how The Wall Street Journal describes Latin America. Latin America homicide rate is 23.4 per every 100,00 people ( Luhnow). This is homicide problem has been the effect of other problems in this region. Most solution found aren’t a permanent solution or is process over time. Homicides in Latin America are on the rise due to government corruption and drugs; there is tech by an automating services and putting them online (Moreno) and there is no good solution for stopping drugs.

In fact, the FARC has become increasingly violent throughout its recent history, “today it plants land mines, takes police stations, and ambushes army patrols.” In order to protect themselves, landowners and drug cartels (who had become wealthy and, therefore, targets for guerrilla kidnappings) formed paramilitary death squads. The government fueled the flames, particularly under President Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010) by subtly endorsing and cooperating with these paramilitary squads, who claimed to be anti-communist, in order to eliminate the guerrilla influence. To do so, paramilitary groups invaded rural, peasant villages, and massacred the inhabitants, who were accused of sympathizing with guerrillas. The result was an increasingly violent, hostile war that pitted government-endorsed paramilitary organizations and drug cartels against the leftist guerrillas. The guerrillas target wealthy individuals in the city, whilst the paramilitary organizations target the poor, rural peasants, in a conflict that has overwhelmed Colombia and resulted in the shocking statistics in the introduction to this essay. Thus, historically, Colombia had been unable to peacefully resolve conflicts between guerrilla groups and the

Drug cartels often perpetuate violence in the region and kill hundreds in an effort to remain dominant in the market. In 2005 alone, 820 drug-related homicides occurred, including two police chiefs and 21 police officers (Harman 05). Calderon’s war on drugs has only exacerbated this statistic, leading to an estimated 22,000 drug-related murders and nearly 9,000 in 2009 alone (Bonner 10). The dramatic increase in drug-related homicides demonstrates the violent adaptation to Calderon 's war on drugs and governmental pressure, an adaptation that remains consistent through many policies against cartels. Robert Bonner explains that ninety percent of the homicides had one drug cartel member killing another (Bonner 10), representing the tension between drug cartels for market authority and providing a mechanism for the increase in homicides. Instead of focusing efforts against the government, cartels took the intensified enforcement as an opportunity to consolidate power and wipe out competition, drastically increasing combat between cartels.

The trend in mortality during the drug war in Mexico follows a spatial theme. There was a dramatic rise in homicides throughout the country since the Calderon administration declared war on organized crime. From December of 2006 to 2010, 34,550 killings have resulted from organized crime, which is a major increase from the previous years (2000-2006) when only 8,901 homicides were related to organized crime. Rios reported 2,826 homicides in 2007 and by 2008, there were 6,837 killings. In 2009, the rates increased by more than 40%, reaching 9,614 victims. By 2010, these figures reached a massive 15,273 homicides (Rios, 4). An analysis by the University of San Diego's Transborder Institute (TBI), sheds light on those affected by crime from organized crime violence. The analysis reported 84% of Mexico's municipalities were affected in some form by organized crime violence in 2011 (Beittel, 24). A Transborder Institute report summarized the pace and sheer brutality of homicides committed by organized crime in 2011. According to the report: "On average, for every day of 2011, 47 people were killed, three of whom were tortured, one of whom was decapitated, two of whom were women and ten of whom were young people" lost their lives to organized crime-related violence (Beittel, 25). Also, TBI reports that between 2008 to 2012, 2,539 police officers and 204 military personnel were homicide victims from

For measuring the amount of youth violence, per capita rates were selected from government website that include reported young criminals who were reported by victims, and culprits of homicides as reported by policemen in the ages between 12 to 17 years old (Ferguson,” Predict Societal Violence” p. E11) . The type of crimes that these juveniles were known to commit included homicides, rape, aggravated assault, and

Latin America is composed of seventeen countries which was colonized by Spain’s and Portugal. They are large in diverse population with four hundred and ninety million people in total. The percentage of the Indian and African that lives in Latin America is basically seventy-five percent just in the cities. The industrial and development grew since the 1960’s; also the free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) proposes to integrate economies of Latin America, North America and the Caribbean (except Cuba). Prisons for quite a long time have been a gateway to try to save society. However, the only thing that it’s doing is hurting the social order. This happens because it creates more problems that are not being treated from the beginning. Crime has become a big problem during these hard times with the poor economy, but it has especially affected Latin America very deeply because of all the problems that overcrowded prisons have brought forward. In Latin America Brazil and Mexico are the two largest and strongest countries that have been affected with having the highest percentage of crimes, inmates in prisons, and concerns with overcrowded prisons. And these increase with the high crime rates in Latin America that are rising due to drug trafficking wars in Brazil and Mexico. Brazil and Argentina are again the two of Latin America’s strongest and largest countries because they make up most of the common market where other nations come to trade, buy goods and buy cash

The sets a premise of wide violence in Mexico stating that more than 5,000 drug-trafficking related homicides starting in 2006. The borderer was the hardest hit by this wave of drug-related-violence due to its proximity to the number one market for drugs in the world, the U.S. In Juarez, the border city with El Paso, Texas, saw more than 1,600 drug-related deaths. (Salas et al., 1007)