Social Inclusion from Below: The Perspectives of Street Gangs and Their Possible Effects on Declining Homicide Rates in Ecuador
Since 2007, the Ecuadorian approach to crime control has emphasized efforts to reach higher levels of social control based on policies of social inclusion and innovations in criminal justice and police reform. One innovative aspect of this approach was the decision to legalize a number of street gangs in 2007. The government claims the success of these policies can be seen in homicide rates that have fallen from 15.35 per 100,000 in 2011 to 5 per 100,000 in 2017. However, little is understood about the factors and their combination that have produced this outcome. To explore this phenomenon, we developed a research project focusing on the impact of street gangs involved in processes of social inclusion on violence reduction. From April to October 2017, we collected multiple data sets including 60 face-to-face interviews with members from four different street subcultures in several field sites, field observations and archival materials to answer two primary questions: How has the relationship between street groups and state agencies changed in the past 10 years? How has this changed relationship contributed to a hitherto unexamined role in the homicide reduction phenomenon of Ecuador? We found that legalization helped reduce violence and criminality drastically while providing a space, both culturally and legally, to transform the social capital of the gang into effective vehicles of behavioral change. In policy terms, we argue that the social inclusion approach to street gangs should be continued and highlighted as a model of best practices of the state.
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dig-bid-node-178212020-06-04T22:23:56ZSocial Inclusion from Below: The Perspectives of Street Gangs and Their Possible Effects on Declining Homicide Rates in Ecuador 2018-04-02T00:00:00+0000 http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0001057 https://publications.iadb.org/en/social-inclusion-below-perspectives-street-gangs-and-their-possible-effects-declining-homicide Inter-American Development Bank Police Force Crime Prevention Youth Violence H89 - Miscellaneous Issues: Other I31 - General Welfare Well-Being I38 - Government Policy • Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs I39 - Welfare Well-Being and Poverty: Other K14 - Criminal Law K42 - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law Z13 - Economic Sociology • Economic Anthropology • Social and Economic Stratification crime reduction;deviance amplification;Ecuador;gang transformation;homicide reduction;legalization;police;state intervention;street gangs;street organization;social control;social inclusion;violence reduction Since 2007, the Ecuadorian approach to crime control has emphasized efforts to reach higher levels of social control based on policies of social inclusion and innovations in criminal justice and police reform. One innovative aspect of this approach was the decision to legalize a number of street gangs in 2007. The government claims the success of these policies can be seen in homicide rates that have fallen from 15.35 per 100,000 in 2011 to 5 per 100,000 in 2017. However, little is understood about the factors and their combination that have produced this outcome. To explore this phenomenon, we developed a research project focusing on the impact of street gangs involved in processes of social inclusion on violence reduction. From April to October 2017, we collected multiple data sets including 60 face-to-face interviews with members from four different street subcultures in several field sites, field observations and archival materials to answer two primary questions: How has the relationship between street groups and state agencies changed in the past 10 years? How has this changed relationship contributed to a hitherto unexamined role in the homicide reduction phenomenon of Ecuador? We found that legalization helped reduce violence and criminality drastically while providing a space, both culturally and legally, to transform the social capital of the gang into effective vehicles of behavioral change. In policy terms, we argue that the social inclusion approach to street gangs should be continued and highlighted as a model of best practices of the state. Inter-American Development Bank David C. Brotherton Rafael Gude Discussion Papers & Presentations application/pdf IDB Publications Ecuador Latin America and the Caribbean en |
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Police Force Crime Prevention Youth Violence H89 - Miscellaneous Issues: Other I31 - General Welfare Well-Being I38 - Government Policy • Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs I39 - Welfare Well-Being and Poverty: Other K14 - Criminal Law K42 - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law Z13 - Economic Sociology • Economic Anthropology • Social and Economic Stratification crime reduction;deviance amplification;Ecuador;gang transformation;homicide reduction;legalization;police;state intervention;street gangs;street organization;social control;social inclusion;violence reduction Police Force Crime Prevention Youth Violence H89 - Miscellaneous Issues: Other I31 - General Welfare Well-Being I38 - Government Policy • Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs I39 - Welfare Well-Being and Poverty: Other K14 - Criminal Law K42 - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law Z13 - Economic Sociology • Economic Anthropology • Social and Economic Stratification crime reduction;deviance amplification;Ecuador;gang transformation;homicide reduction;legalization;police;state intervention;street gangs;street organization;social control;social inclusion;violence reduction |
spellingShingle |
Police Force Crime Prevention Youth Violence H89 - Miscellaneous Issues: Other I31 - General Welfare Well-Being I38 - Government Policy • Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs I39 - Welfare Well-Being and Poverty: Other K14 - Criminal Law K42 - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law Z13 - Economic Sociology • Economic Anthropology • Social and Economic Stratification crime reduction;deviance amplification;Ecuador;gang transformation;homicide reduction;legalization;police;state intervention;street gangs;street organization;social control;social inclusion;violence reduction Police Force Crime Prevention Youth Violence H89 - Miscellaneous Issues: Other I31 - General Welfare Well-Being I38 - Government Policy • Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs I39 - Welfare Well-Being and Poverty: Other K14 - Criminal Law K42 - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law Z13 - Economic Sociology • Economic Anthropology • Social and Economic Stratification crime reduction;deviance amplification;Ecuador;gang transformation;homicide reduction;legalization;police;state intervention;street gangs;street organization;social control;social inclusion;violence reduction Inter-American Development Bank Social Inclusion from Below: The Perspectives of Street Gangs and Their Possible Effects on Declining Homicide Rates in Ecuador |
description |
Since 2007, the Ecuadorian approach to crime control has emphasized efforts to reach higher levels of social control based on policies of social inclusion and innovations in criminal justice and police reform. One innovative aspect of this approach was the decision to legalize a number of street gangs in 2007. The government claims the success of these policies can be seen in homicide rates that have fallen from 15.35 per 100,000 in 2011 to 5 per 100,000 in 2017. However, little is understood about the factors and their combination that have produced this outcome. To explore this phenomenon, we developed a research project focusing on the impact of street gangs involved in processes of social inclusion on violence reduction. From April to October 2017, we collected multiple data sets including 60 face-to-face interviews with members from four different street subcultures in several field sites, field observations and archival materials to answer two primary questions: How has the relationship between street groups and state agencies changed in the past 10 years? How has this changed relationship contributed to a hitherto unexamined role in the homicide reduction phenomenon of Ecuador? We found that legalization helped reduce violence and criminality drastically while providing a space, both culturally and legally, to transform the social capital of the gang into effective vehicles of behavioral change. In policy terms, we argue that the social inclusion approach to street gangs should be continued and highlighted as a model of best practices of the state. |
author2 |
David C. Brotherton |
author_facet |
David C. Brotherton Inter-American Development Bank |
format |
Discussion Papers & Presentations |
topic_facet |
Police Force Crime Prevention Youth Violence H89 - Miscellaneous Issues: Other I31 - General Welfare Well-Being I38 - Government Policy • Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs I39 - Welfare Well-Being and Poverty: Other K14 - Criminal Law K42 - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law Z13 - Economic Sociology • Economic Anthropology • Social and Economic Stratification crime reduction;deviance amplification;Ecuador;gang transformation;homicide reduction;legalization;police;state intervention;street gangs;street organization;social control;social inclusion;violence reduction |
author |
Inter-American Development Bank |
author_sort |
Inter-American Development Bank |
title |
Social Inclusion from Below: The Perspectives of Street Gangs and Their Possible Effects on Declining Homicide Rates in Ecuador |
title_short |
Social Inclusion from Below: The Perspectives of Street Gangs and Their Possible Effects on Declining Homicide Rates in Ecuador |
title_full |
Social Inclusion from Below: The Perspectives of Street Gangs and Their Possible Effects on Declining Homicide Rates in Ecuador |
title_fullStr |
Social Inclusion from Below: The Perspectives of Street Gangs and Their Possible Effects on Declining Homicide Rates in Ecuador |
title_full_unstemmed |
Social Inclusion from Below: The Perspectives of Street Gangs and Their Possible Effects on Declining Homicide Rates in Ecuador |
title_sort |
social inclusion from below: the perspectives of street gangs and their possible effects on declining homicide rates in ecuador |
publisher |
Inter-American Development Bank |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0001057 https://publications.iadb.org/en/social-inclusion-below-perspectives-street-gangs-and-their-possible-effects-declining-homicide |
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AT interamericandevelopmentbank socialinclusionfrombelowtheperspectivesofstreetgangsandtheirpossibleeffectsondeclininghomicideratesinecuador |
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