Violence in a Post-Conflict Context: Urban Poor Perceptions from Guatemala

?THIS BOOK IS based on research conducted during April and May 1999 using a participatory rural appraisal methodology, and is part of a wider initiative within the Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development Department, Latin America and Caribbean Region, the World Bank. The study documents how people living in nine poor urban communities in Guatemala perceive violence. It identifies different types of violence (social, political and economic) affecting poor communities, the costs of each type, the effects of violence on social capital, the ways in which people deal with violence and the causes and effects of social exclusion. The analytical framework developed by the authors is a violence-capital-exclusion nexus which attempts to link different types of violence both to society’s capital and to the exclusion of its poor population. Thus, although different types of violence are described in detail in different chapters, they are also interrelated in highly complex and dynamic ways.

Intra-family violence, endemic in Guatemalan communities, is perceived as undermining the construction and maintenance of norms, values and trust between family members. It also leads to the erosion of social networks between households and reduces the human capital endowments of children and young people. Critically, violence in the home is also perceived as leading to violence outside the home, with young people spending long periods of time in the streets and often looking to gangs as a source of support. Alcohol abuse is widespread across the communities and is by far the most critical cause of social violence. Drug consumption, which is common among men and gang members, is perceived as a leading cause of economic violence. In turn, alcoholism among parents, intra-family violence, family disintegration and poverty are frequently cited as causes of drug consumption.

People in the communities recognize that breaking the continuum of violence requires both short-term and long-term strategies. Some of these strategies, such as reconstructing social networks, can be undertaken at the community level, while others, including better access to education and policing, require national-level initiatives. However, the lack of trust or confidence in the police and judicial systems means that fundamental measures are needed, including transparently addressing human rights abuses and reconciliation issues through the judicial system.