Violence In Countries Research Articles

Antinovela negra : Cristina Rivera Garza’s La muerte me da and the Critical Contemplation of Violence in Contemporary Mexico

Antinovela negra:Cristina Rivera Garza’s La muerte me da and the Critical Contemplation of Violence in Contemporary Mexico Glen S. Close A recent boom in criminal violence has transformed social life in many parts of Latin America. According to homicide statistics published by the United Nations in 2012, eight of the world’s ten most violent countries are located in Latin America or the Caribbean (“Burn-out”). In the United States, the history of the recent spike in violence in Mexico is well known: during the six-year term of President Felipe Calderón (2006–2012), a policy of direct military confrontation of organized crime resulted in some 70,000 confirmed killings and more than 27,000 disappearances in the so-called guerra contra el narcotráfico (Quesada). The terrifying intensity and spectacular nature of the criminal violence, including such tactics as broadcasting videos of torture and executions and public dumping and display of hung, mutilated and beheaded cadavers, has given rise to urgent national debates over ethical and political norms for media representations of such hyperviolence. Considerable attention has been focused on ferocious intimidation of journalists by criminal organizations and on government efforts to regulate journalistic and artistic discourses on el narco. A famous case in point is that of the popular drug-trafficking ballads known as narcocorridos, which have provoked numerous calls for [End Page 391] censorship.1 The most visible literary product associated with this new criminality is the narconovela, whose protagonists are often professional criminals fighting for survival, power and profit. The narconovela can be classified as a variant of the novela negra, or hard-boiled crime novel, and the best known narconovelas show far more interest in criminal customs, masculine heroics and violent adventure than in narrative innovation or the social(ist) consciousness-raising associated with the previous novela negra variant known as the neopoliciaco. The novela negra is commonly considered one of the primary narrative forms of the Spanish American Post-Boom, and interest in it has grown in approximate correlation with social concern over crime in much of Latin America. However, throughout the rise of the Latin American novela negra over the last forty years, very few women writers have contributed prominently to the development of this heavily masculinist genre. In this context, Cristina Rivera Garza’s La muerte me da is a remarkable publication. Since Rivera Garza dates the text in 2003, we know that its composition precedes the violent escalation under President Calderón, and that the violent events narrated do not correspond directly with those of the guerra contra el narco. However, La muerte me da does coincide with the escalation in its reception, since it was published in 2007 and received the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize in 2009. The novel has attained a broad relevance during these years, since it contains profoundly serious and literarily incisive reflections on the psychological and epistemological impact of violence and on the ethical complications of its representation, themes that have demanded urgent attention in the decade since its completion. As Rivera Garza has acknowledged in her most recent book of essays, to write (or read) in contemporary Mexico is to never forget the immanence of lethal violence. ¿Qué significa escribir hoy en ese contexto? ¿Qué tipo de retos enfrenta el ejercicio de la escritura en un medio donde la precariedad del trabajo y la muerte horrísona constituyen la materia de todos los días? ¿Cuáles son los diálogos estéticos y éticos a los que nos avienta el hecho de escribir, literalmente, rodeados de muertos? (Los muertos indóciles 19) In contrast to the narconovelistas, who have been denounced for their morbid delight in violent spectacle, as well as for their complacent narrative conventionalism and their coarse costumbrismo (“su realismo [End Page 392] abrumadoramente inconsciente,” in the words of Rafael Lemus, 39), Rivera Garza has engaged repeatedly in sensitive and erudite reflection on the ethical dilemmas involved in narrating Mexico’s experience of extreme violence. In a 2007 conference presentation, she acknowledged her struggle to evade complicity with violent acts in the process of narrating them, and stated her conviction that literature should transcend contextual...

Journalism in times of violence

Mexico ranks as one of the most violent countries in the world for journalists, and especially for those who work on the country’s periphery such as its northern border. Given the dire situation for Mexican reporters covering the northern part of the country, and the continued responsibility of US journalists to report on the area just south of the border, this qualitative study addresses the overarching research question that examines how Mexican and US journalists who cover northern Mexico are using social media, given the heightened levels of violence in the region. The authors utilize a modified version of the conceptual framework of scale-shifting to investigate how journalists in a specific transnational environment of conflict are using social media. The study is based on a qualitative analysis of 41 interviews gathered in fall 2011 in 18 cities with news media outlets along the United States–Mexico border. Findings describe the innovative ways that journalists are circumventing online security risks (what the authors call scale-shifting) and how social media are used to build cross-border relationships.

Conflict, Crime, and Violence in Colombia

"Even by Latin American standards, Colombia is a violent country. It is also an exceptional laboratory for researchers interested in crime, conflict and more generally, in violence. Violence in Colombia is not a recent phenomenon: The country experienced six major civil wars during the course of the 19th century. A period of relative calm followed the bloodiest of these confrontations: “The War of the Thousand Days,” that lasted literally 1000 days (1899–1902), and resulted in the deaths of a large fraction of the population. In the late 1940s after the assassination of a liberal presidential candidate, partisan grievances flourished and a new civil war (know as “La Violencia”) began. It was ended by a power-sharing deal between the liberals and the conservatives in the late 1950s. By most accounts, the current conflict began in the mid 1960s, when two guerrilla organizations – Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) and Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN) – (both are still active today) were formed. The largest of them, FARC, emerged from communist guerrillas dissatisfied by the exclusion of the left from the power-sharing deal, and from the remnants of liberal guerrillas that did not laid down their arms when the deal was brokered."

War, Peace and Third World Development

This paper addresses the character of armed conflict today. In recent years there have been few inter-state wars, though direct and indirect external intervention in internal strife continues. During 1993, there were 52 wars involving 42 war-torn countries. In a further 37 violent countries, political violence was widespread and even endemic without quite meriting the name of war. Of this total of 79 conflict countries, 65 are in the Third World. Wars that in 1993 were fought between two different states began as civil wars in Yugoslavia and the USSR before their disintegration. Systemic violence up to and including war is a chronic development problem. The paper argues that a development agenda that fails to address violence is dealing with only part of the needs of Third World countries and will probably not enjoy much success.

Girls and Violence: The Case for a Feminist Theory of Female Violence

Rises recorded for girls’ violence in countries like Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and United States have been hotly contested. One view is these rising rates of violence are an artefact of new forms of policy, policing, criminalisation and social control over young women. Another view is that young women may indeed have become more violent as they have increasingly participated in youth subcultural activities involving gangs and drugs, and cyber-cultural activities that incite and reward girls’ violence. Any comprehensive explanation will need to address how a complex interplay of cultural, social, behavioural, and policy responses contribute to these rises. This article argues that there is no singular cause, explanation or theory that accounts for the rises in adolescent female violence, and that many of the simple explanations circulating in popular culture are driven by an anti-feminist ideology. By concentrating on females as victims of violence and very rarely as perpetrators, feminist criminology has for the most part ducked the thorny issue of female violence, leaving a discursive space for anti-feminist sentiment to reign. The article concludes by arguing the case for developing a feminist theory of female violence.

<em>Educating for Peace:</em> The Sociocultural Dimensions of Grassroots Peace Education as a Tool for National Reconciliation and Social Forgetting in Sierra Leone

The prevention of violence in countries in tran ­ sition is a central focus in policymaking. However, how to re­ member the past—how it is regarded and dealt with—remains a major challenge especially where the agendas of different ac ­ tors and their underlying concepts of justice, peace, and rec­ onciliation do not always go hand in hand. In this paper we explore how the local framing of peace education, and the cul­ tural contextualization of reconciliation have helped the people of Sierra Leone come to terms with the past and transcend their in di vidual experiences as they work to promote national recon­ ciliation. This paper discusses the sociocultural context of peace education in Sierra Leone. It traces and explores the nature of the power of the people and their agency and representation not just in the design and conduct of grassroots peace educa­ tion in the country, but also in (re)shaping their social ideals and values, belief systems and cultural norms that was created by their local institutions.

An exploration of violence, mental health and substance abuse in post-conflict Guatemala.

Guatemala's 36-year civil war officially ended in December 1996 after some 200,000 deaths and one million refugees. Despite the ceasefire, Guatemala continues to be a violent country with one of the highest homicide rates in the world. We investigated potential associations between violence, mental health, and substance abuse in post-conflict Guatemala using a community-based survey of 86 respondents living in urban and rural Guatemala. Overall, 17.4% of our respondents had at least one, direct violent experience during the civil war. In the post-conflict period, 90.7% of respondents reported being afraid that they might be hurt by violence, 40.7% screened positive for depression, 50.0% screened positive for PTSD, and 23.3% screened positive for alcohol dependence. Potential associations between prior violent experiences during the war and indicators of PTSD and aspects of alcohol dependence were found in regression-adjusted models (p < 0.05). Certain associations between prior civil war experiences, aspects of PTSD and alcohol dependence in this cohort are remarkable, raising concerns for the health and safety of the largely indigenous populations we studied. Higher than expected rates of depression, PTSD, and substance abuse in our cohort may be related to the ongoing violence, injury and fear that have persisted since the end of the civil war. These, in turn, have implications for the growing medical and surgical resources needed to address the continuing traumatic and post-traumatic complications in the post-conflict era. Limitations of the current study are discussed. These findings are useful in beginning to understand the downstream effects of the Guatemalan civil war, although a much larger, randomly sampled survey is now needed.

The association between armed conflict, violence and mental health: a cross sectional study comparing two populations in Cundinamarca department, Colombia

BackgroundExposure to violence in general and to armed conflict in particular has been consistently associated with an increased prevalence of mental illness. Colombia has sustained an internal armed conflict for decades and is considered one of the most violent countries in the world. However, certain areas have been more exposed to the conflict than others.MethodsThis is a cross sectional study comparing two communities from different villages in the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. One, Guasca, was directly impacted by armed conflict. The other one; Guatavita has never been affected by armed conflict. We applied two different instruments: the PHQ scale and a short standardized interview in order to estimate the prevalence of major psychiatric disorders and their link to violent events. Forty-two volunteers from each village were evaluated through a personal interview using these two instruments.FindingsOf the population surveyed in Guatavita, 2.4% reported direct exposure to violence compared to 23.8% from Guasca. In the population exposed directly to violent events, the prevalence of all disorders was greater than in the non-exposed population with an OR of 1.46 (95% CI 0.3809 - 5.5989) for anxiety; 4.54 (95% CI 1.1098 - 18.5984) for depression; 6.0 (95% CI 1.2298 - 30.2263) for somatization disorder; and 4.4 (95% CI 1.2037 - 16.0842) for alcohol abuse.InterpretationThere is a statistically significant association between the history of armed conflict, violence and the presence of mental illnesses, particularly depression, somatization disorder and alcohol abuse. Special attention should be paid to the detection, prevention and treatment of these disorders when dealing with populations exposed to violence and to armed conflict in particular.

Testing a Method to Develop Preliminary Cost Estimates of Homicide in Glasgow

By European standards Scotland is a violent country with a disproportionate number of its homicides occurring in Glasgow. In addition to its devastating health and social impact, homicide imposes a considerable financial burden. The extent of the cost has been based on 2003 estimates for England and Wales. This study aimed to test a method for developing preliminary estimates of the cost of homicide in Glasgow from 2002 to 2009, based on four cost categories: lost output, incarceration cost, investigation cost, and cost of physical and emotional impact. Findings suggested that the previous cost estimate of £1.46 million underestimated the cost of homicide in Glasgow for the same year (2003, £1.52 million) and each subsequent year up to 2009 (£1.55 million-£1.68 million). Appropriate costing information is crucial in informing violence prevention policy, practice, and evaluation. A number of methodological considerations have been identified that will enable more thorough cost estimates in the future.

Intimate partner violence, female employment, and male backlash in Rwanda

Patterns of gendered violence during civil conflict are among the least well-understood aspects of civil war, and even greater gaps in our understanding exist regarding the long-term patterns of gendered power and violence in countries affected by war. This article examines the prevalence and correlates of intimate partner violence, based on household-level data from the Demographic and Health Survey conducted in Rwanda in 2005. Three results stand out. First, there are significant differences in the prevalence of three different types of gendered violence: physical, emotional and sexual violence. Second, women who are employed but whose husbands are not experience more sexual violence, not less, as would be expected in conventional household bargaining models. This can be interpreted as reflecting 'male backlash' as gender norms are destabilized. Finally, there is a strong inter-district correlation between the post-conflict prevalence of sexual violence and the intensity of political violence during the genocide.

Tendencia del Trauma en dos Hospitales Nivel IV en Cali, Colombia. Reporte Preliminar en la Plataforma del Registro de la Sociedad Panamericana de Trauma (SPT/RT)

RESUMEN Introducción El trauma es un problema de salud pública a nivel mundial. En Colombia, el país más violento de América Latina, no hay sistemas de registro que permitan conocer las tendencias en la atención del trauma, desde el manejo prehospitalario hasta el estatus final. En Colombia, se tienen registros de mortalidad por entes estatales pero hay una deficiencia de sistemas de información que permita conocer la situación real de la atención del paciente con trauma. Objetivo Describir la epidemiología de la atención por trauma en los servicios de urgencias de dos hospitales de referencia en la ciudad de Cali. Metodología Entre 21 noviembre 2011 y 30 abril 2012 se implementó el piloto del Registro Internacional de Trauma de la Sociedad Panamericana de Trauma; la captura de la información se realiza en tiempo real. Incluye la información socio-demográfica, etiologia, severidad del trauma y estatus al egreso. Resultados Se registraron 5432 pacientes. El promedio de edad fue 30,2 (±20,3) años, el 67,5% fueron &lt;35 años. Las principales causas de consulta fueron las caídas (38,1%), lesiones de tránsito (12,2%) y heridas por arma de fuego (8,5%). El 34,4% (n = 1,867) requirieron procedimientos quirúrgicos, se hospitalizaron 18,9% (n = 1,029). La mortalidad global fue del 2,6%, mayormente secundarias a heridas por arma de fuego 54,3% (76/140). La mortalidad según severidad para ISS&lt;15 fue 0,3%(13/5183) y con ISS&gt;15 fue 64,5% (89/138). Conclusiones La mayor causa de consulta fueron las caídas (38,1%), la mayor proporción de muertes fue secundaria a heridas por arma de fuego. La implementación de un registro de trauma permite conocer la realidad de la atención del trauma en los servicios de urgencias, logrando identificar debilidades en el sistema de trauma, permitiendo la generación de nuevas estrategias para mejorar la atención del trauma que se traduce en impactos en las políticas públicas y en la optimización de recursos al interior de los hospitales. Objetivo Describir la situación actual de las consultas por trauma a los servicios de urgencias de dos hospitales de referencia de la ciudad de Cali, que en los cuales se ha adelantado el programa piloto del registro de trauma de la sociedad Panamericana de trauma. Y mostrar que la mayor causa de consulta a los servicios de urgencias son las caídas en todas en todos los rangos de edad.

WHAT CAUSES INTENTIONAL HOMICIDE?

AbstractLatin American and Caribbean countries are world leaders in intentional homicide rates. Our estimates suggest that the intentional homicide rate in the Latin America and Caribbean region is 40 per cent higher than the average for the rest of the world. The intentional homicide rate for a group of violent countries (Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Jamaica) is nearly 58 per cent higher than the world's average. Utilising an international panel data set to study the determinants of intentional homicide, we demonstrate that intentional homicide is highly inert, counter‐cyclical, declines with development and rises with violence and income inequality. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Pactos comunitários e proteção em San Salvador

This article explores the frontier experience now pervasive in working-class urban districts of El Salvador. Considered one of the most violent countries in Latin America, the response of the governments has been to combat the gangs. However, rather than falling, rates of violence have been on the increase. The interest here is analyzing the distinct pacts that the communities make in search of protection, part of a scenario in which a multitude of actors determine the legal and illegal dynamics of the neighbourhoods. Based on research conducted in two emblematic districts, the article discusses state power in the management of illegalisms and the use of state violence.

A Community-based survey of health and safety in postconflict Guatemala

In 1996, peace accords brought a close to Guatemalas 36-year civil war, which saw 200 000 casualties and over a million displaced persons. Despite the ceasefire Guatemala continues to be...

Chiquita in Colombia

Should an international company operating in a violent nation pay a paramilitary group to keep its employees from harm? Executives at Chiquita Brands' Banadex subsidiary in Colombia faced a dilemma in 1997. Carlos Castano, the leader of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, a paramilitary group, was demanding payment in return for not harming Banadex's employees or operations. The executives must weigh the various options including, among others, making the payments or shutting down operations. This case examines the history of Chiquita (formerly the United Fruit Company) in Colombia (and other South American countries), its interaction with the country's political and social structure, and the difficulties of doing business in one of the world's most violent countries.

Working Hard, Drinking Hard: On Violence and Survival in Honduras. ADRIENNE PINE: Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008.

Working Hard, Drinking Hard: On Violence and Survival in Hondurasis a powerful ethnographic account of daily life in Honduras. One of the poorestcountries in the world and touted as one of the most violent countries in the Americas, Honduras is a showcase ofneoliberalism and the human struggles that accompany it. Yet little has beenwritten that explains how subjectivities are formed within the neoliberalcontext, and how life is experienced on a day-to-day basis. As such, AdriennePine's ethnography fills a critical gap in the literature on neo-liberalism andglobalization, offering an analytical account of how they play themselves outin very personal ways for the poor in Latin America.

Chiquita in Colombia

Should an international company operating in a violent nation pay a paramilitary group to keep its employees from harm? Executives at Chiquita Brands' Banadex subsidiary in Colombia faced a dilemma in 1997. Carlos Castano, the leader of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, a paramilitary group, was demanding payment in return for not harming Banadex's employees or operations. The executives must weigh the various options including, among others, making the payments or shutting down operations. This case examines the history of Chiquita (formerly the United Fruit Company) in Colombia (and other South American countries), its interaction with the country's political and social structure, and the difficulties of doing business in one of the world's most violent countries.

Violence and post-traumatic stress disorder in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: the protocol for an epidemiological and genetic survey

Backgroundviolence is a public health major concern, and it is associated with post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychiatric outcomes. Brazil is one of the most violent countries in the world, and has an extreme social inequality. Research on the association between violence and mental health may support public health policy and thus reduce the burden of disease attributable to violence. The main objectives of this project were: to study the association between violence and mental disorders in the Brazilian population; to estimate the prevalence rates of exposure to violence, post-traumatic stress disorder, common metal disorder, and alcohol hazardous use and dependence: and to identify contextual and individual factors, including genetic factors, associated with the outcomes.Methods/designone phase cross-sectional survey carried out in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A multistage probability to size sampling scheme was performed in order to select the participants (3000 and 1500 respectively). The cities were stratified according to homicide rates, and in Sao Paulo the three most violent strata were oversampled. The measurements included exposure to traumatic events, psychiatric diagnoses (CIDI 2.1), contextual (homicide rates and social indicators), and individual factors, such as demographics, social capital, resilience, help seeking behaviours. The interviews were carried between June/2007 February/2008, by a team of lay interviewers. The statistical analyses will be weight-adjusted in order to take account of the design effects. Standardization will be used in order to compare the results between the two centres. Whole genome association analysis will be performed on the 1 million SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) arrays, and additional association analysis will be performed on additional phenotypes. The Ethical Committee of the Federal University of Sao Paulo approved the study, and participants who matched diagnostic criteria have been offered a referral to outpatient clinics at the Federal University of Sao Paulo and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

Fatal violence – from trauma to offence: A case study in forensic psychotherapy and trauma therapy with a migrant patient

That persons who are objects of violence and traumatisation become offenders themselves is a typical feature of ill-fated cycles of violence in countries torn by fierce political, ethnic, and religious conflicts. Some refugees and migrants with this background present a challenge to forensic psychotherapy when they continue such patterns of physical force and criminal behaviour in a host country like Germany, and are found to be either not responsible or of diminished responsibility for their criminal acts by reason of mental disorders or addictions. Their offences create a critical legal situation for them, since they are threatened with deportation. At the same time, their clinical condition is critical, for they were possibly subjected to traumatic experiences by authorities in their past; their cooperation in the treatment can seriously affect their legal status. Finding a way out of these complications has to take these special factors into account. Our paper focuses on the case study of a refugee from North Africa, illustrating a model of cooperation in forensic inpatient treatment, special trauma therapy (narrative exposure therapy), and expert testimony.

Arrested Development: The Political Origins and Socio-Economic Foundations of Common Violence in Jamaica

A recurring theme in the literature on common violence is that it stems from the combined impact of divided societies (poverty, ethnic diversity, economic inequality) and weak institutions (non-democratic, authoritarian government). This statistical regularity may hold in the aggregate, but as such it generates some instructive “outliers”. Jamaica, for example, is not especially poor, has a virtually mono-ethnic population, relatively low levels of economic inequality, and has been steadily democratic since independence, but is yet among the most violent countries in the world. Why is this? How does one explain variations over time and place in the levels of violence? Drawing on extensive field research in Kingston’s garrison communities, we argue that Jamaica generally, and Kingston in particular, experiences high levels of common violence because Jamaica is in fact neither “cohesive” nor “democratic”, displaying instead important context-specific sources of social division and institutional weakness. A powerful regional political economy clearly constrains Jamaica’s policy options, but given its nascent democratic institutions, external and domestic development actors alike can best assist efforts to lower common violence by recognizing and rewarding what Jamaican civil society organisations are doing already.