Violence in Colombia and Guatemala: the voices of the urban poor

How do people living in low-income urban communities in Colombia and Guatemala perceive violence? Two recent World Bank reports examine this issue through participatory studies. In both countries, violence-related problems were cited as the single most important type of problem, with the lack of social capital also rated as significant.

Despite continued improvements in its social and economic indicators and its rich natural and human resources, Colombia remains plagued by violence. A variety of factors contribute to this: a 50-year-old civil war, increased armed conflict, rises in urban and rural crime, and drug cartel-linked violence. In Guatemala, 36 years of armed conflict caused massive displacement and over 150,000 deaths. Although the conflict ended in 1996, its legacy includes increasing urban violence, a culture of silence, discrimination against indigenous groups and high rates of rape.

In both countries, local communities identified three types of violence – political, economic and social – and that they were highly interrelated. In Colombia, economic and social violence were the most common types of violence, and drug use, lack of physical capital and unemployment were major issues. In Guatemala, social violence was most common, including alcohol-related and sexual violence, then economic violence, particularly gang-related violence and robbery.

Intrafamily violence, for example, physical and sexual abuse, was widespread in both countries, and associated with various factors, including economic changes and unemployment, alcohol and drug use. It undermines how households function and erodes social capital networks. Violence within the home was seen as leading to violence outside the home. In Colombia, drug consumption was seen as the leading reason for economic violence, and its causes named as intrafamily violence and conflict, peer pressure and parental example. In Guatemala, the main reason for social violence was men’s consumption of alcohol, caused by intrafamily conflict, family disintegration, parental example, poverty and lack of employment.

Both studies identified community groups and institutions that generated both productive and perverse social capital. In Colombia, state-run service delivery organisations were trusted, but institutions connected with the perpetration or prevention of violence, e.g. gangs and state security institutions, were feared. In Guatemala, one consequence of the long years of civil conflict was the lack of community based membership organisations, with most of the institutions in local communities being service delivery organisations. Even among such organisations there was mistrust, lack of solidarity and fear.

In both countries, communities identified three national-level constraints which policy-makers need to address to solve the problem of violence.

In Colombia:

• lack of employment, leading to drug use, crime and violence
• the pervasive nature of political violence
• displacement caused by political violence in rural areas.

And in Guatemala:

• extensive fear and distrust – the legacy of decades of armed conflict – leading to lack of social cohesion and social capital
• discrimination and exclusion of the indigenous population – persistently excluded, they were suffering racial and cultural discrimination
• lack of trust or confidence in the police and judicial system.

Study participants proposed the following interventions in both countries:

• reduce society’s tolerance of intrafamily violence
• rebuild trust in the police and the judicial system
• strengthen the capacity of community-based membership organisations, particularly those run by women
• tackle the problems of drug and alcohol use.

The following interventions were proposed in Colombia:

• create job opportunities in the formal, informal and self-employment sectors
• target interventions at young people.

And in Guatemala:

• Transform gangs from perverse to productive social organisations.

Source(s):
'Urban poor perceptions of violence and exclusion in Colombia', Conflict Prevention and Post-Conflict Reconstruction Series, World Bank, by Caroline Moser and Cathy McIlwaine, 2000
'Violence in a Post-Conflict Context: urban poor perceptions from Guatemala', Conflict Prevention and Post-Conflict Reconstruction Series, World Bank by Caroline Moser and Cathy McIlwaine, 2000

Funded by: SIDA

id21 Research Highlight: 19 December 2002

Further Information:
Caroline Moser
Overseas Development Institute
111 Westminster Bridge Road
London
UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 7922 0300
Fax: +44 (0)20 7922 0399
Contact the contributor: C.Moser@odi.org.uk

Overseas Development Institute, UK

Cathy McIlwaine
Department of Geography
Queen Mary
University of London
Mile End
London E1 4NS
UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 79755 415
Fax: +44 (0)207 981 6276
Contact the contributor: C.J.McIlwaine@qmw.ac.uk

Queen Mary, University of London, UK

Other related links:
'Colombia: Development and Peace In the Magdalena Medio Region' from the World Bank

See further Reports and Publications of the Conflict Prevention and Reconstruction Unit from the World Bank

'The road to peace? Tackling violence in Colombia'

'How can communities manage conflict? Urban violence and post-war reconciliation'

'Humanitarianism under threat - the impact of small arms and light weapons'

See the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects

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