Crime in Latin America: The role of family, employment, culture and the state

Crime in Latin American has risen sharply the last two decades. This is closely connected to the growth of US drug markets, brutalization of drug trafficking, increasingly important role of gangs, poverty, diminishing trust in governments, and weakness or failure of states. By developing a culturally sensitive life-course criminology, CRIMLA aims to understand the role of family, employment, culture and the state in criminal trajectories and careers in Latin America. Combining criminological theory, with institutional, cultural and narrative studies, the objective is to develop research and theorizing from the Global South. CRIMLA explores the overall research question ‘What is the best way to theorize and understand the criminal careers and life-course trajectories of Latin American offenders?’ through several sub-questions such as: ‘How does crime enter into the life-courses of offenders in different Latin American countries?’ ‘Do major life-course transitions and turning points coincide with changes in crime?’ ‘What is the role of state institutions and local cultures for criminal careers?’ ’What is the role of drug trafficking organizations?’ ‘How is crime conveyed in offenders’ life-stories?’ These questions are addressed through 300 qualitative life-story interviews with prisoners in six Latin American countries; Mexico, El Salvador, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. The selected countries represent important differences in terms of state organization and stability, incarceration rates, and culture, but share similar languages, challenges, and colonial history. The qualitative data also informs a larger quantitative life-course criminological pilot study. CRIMLA includes several research exchanges and a cross-continental advisory board that will facilitate mutual learning between criminology and related disciplines in Scandinavia and Latin America, bringing together academics in the Global North and Global South.

Crime in Latin American has risen sharply the last two decades. This is closely connected to the growth of US drug markets, brutalization of drug trafficking, increasingly important role of gangs, poverty, diminishing trust in governments, and weakness or failure of states. By developing a culturally sensitive life-course criminology of Latin America, CRIMLA aims to understand the role of family, employment, culture and the state in criminal trajectories and careers in this region. By combining criminological theory, with institutional, cultural and narrative studies, the objective is to develop research and theorizing from the Global South. CRIMLA explores the overall research question ‘What is the best way to theorize and understand the criminal careers and life-course trajectories of Latin American offenders?’ through several sub-questions such as: ‘How does crime enter into the life-courses of offenders in different Latin American countries?’ ‘Do major life-course transitions and turning points coincide with changes in crime?’ ‘What is the role of state institutions and local cultures for criminal careers?’ ’What is the role of drug trafficking organizations?’ ‘How is crime conveyed in offenders’ life-stories?’ These questions are addressed through 300 qualitative life-story interviews with prisoners in six Latin American countries; Mexico, El Salvador, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. The selected countries represent important differences in terms of state organization and stability, incarceration rates, and culture, but share similar languages, challenges, and colonial history. The qualitative data also informs a larger quantitative life-course criminological pilot study. CRIMLA includes several research exchanges and a cross-continental advisory board that will facilitate mutual learning between criminology and related disciplines in Scandinavia and Latin America, bringing together academics in the Global North and Global South.