Urban Poor Perceptions of Violence and Exclusion in Colombia

DESPITE SUSTAINED IMPROVEMENTS in its social and economic indicators over several decades, Colombia remains plagued by violence. This reflects a number of factors, including the country's simmering civil war, the increase in armed conflict, the rise in urban and rural crime and drug cartel-linked violence.

This study documents how people living in poor urban communities in Colombia perceive violence. Specifically, it identifies the categories of violence affecting poor communities, the effects of different types of violence on social capital, and the causes and effects of social exclusion. It describes the relationships that produce and sustain this cycle of violence and begins to identify interventions to break it.

In a field study of nine low-income communities, violence-related problems emerged as the single most important problem facing the poor, and different types of violence were identified, namely, political, economic and social. A section on costs, causes and consequences covers intra-family violence and shows how households functioned internally in terms of constructing norms, values and trust. Violence within the home was perceived as leading to violence outside the home. Drug consumption, particularly among young men, was perceived as the leading cause of economic violence in most of the communities studied. Children were reported to begin smoking marijuana at age eight, moving on to petrol and glue by age 12 and cocaine-type drugs at 14. Causes given are intra-family violence, peer pressure and parental example but also lack of recreational opportunities and unemployment, which made it difficult for young people to fill their days.

Young people involved in drugs tended to drop out of school, thus reducing even further their chances of employment and leading them to engage in other activities such as drug dealing and robbery. Drug consumption also increased the level of fear in communities, leading to an erosion of social capital, as did economic violence, tied to the level of unemployment, the nationwide recession and people fleeing political violence in the countryside. Violence not only affects individuals and households but also communities themselves. There were various institutions which were trusted and benefited the community, for example, schools and health centres, and others which benefited their members whilst hurting the community as a whole, such as gangs and state security and justice systems. These were classified as having perverse social capital. This latter group were the most prevalent membership organizations in the areas studied, with guerrilla and paramilitary groups perpetrating political violence and being universally feared. This increased the lack of trust amongst community members, who were afraid to speak openly about the problem eroding solidarity within the communities themselves.

There were several strategies for dealing with violence, including avoidance, confrontation and conciliation. Most people responded to violence by keeping silent, out of powerlessness and fear of retribution, and many people changed routes and habits to avoid problems rather than cause confrontation. People did recognize that a variety of solutions should be implemented simultaneously, and almost half of the proposed solutions involved creating social capital. Within this category, promotion of family values and dialogue between families and communities were the most frequently mentioned. Other suggestions included improving education, establishing more drug and rehabilitation centres, improving employment opportunities and integrating young people better into society. Increasing the resources of community organizations was also well supported as was obtaining external assistance to establish new organizations. Social cleansing and harsh police actions were also advocated by some community members. The book finishes with two sections on “community perceptions of solution