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2019 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

5. Gangs and Counter-Gang Strategies

Authors : Jonathan D. Rosen, Hanna Samir Kassab

Published in: Drugs, Gangs, and Violence

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

This chapter focuses on gangs and counter-gang strategies and how they have contributed to violence. It begins with a conceptualization of gangs. After an examination of the different elements that constitute a gang, the chapter discusses the structure of gangs, focusing on the differences between vertical and horizontal structures. It then turns to an examination of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the 18^th Street gangs. It analyzes the origins of these organizations and the different factors that resulted in the expansion of these street gangs throughout Central America. The chapter focuses on the role of tough on crime strategies as well as the consequences of such initiatives. Next, it explores the relationship between Central American street gang members and the penitentiary system. It also explores the relationship between these gangs and the United States and analyzes the policies of the current administration. The chapter concludes with some policy recommendations.

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For more on this topic, see: Alisha C. Holland, “Right on Crime?: Conservative Party Politics and Mano Dura Policies in El Salvador,” Latin American Research Review 48, no. 1 (2013): pp. 44–67; Sonja Wolf, “El Salvador’s pandilleros calmados: The challenges of contesting mano dura through peer rehabilitation and empowerment,” Bulletin of Latin American Research 31, no. 2 (2012): pp. 190–205; see also Juan J. Fogelbach, “Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Ley Anti Mara: El Salvador’s Struggle to Reclaim Social Order,” San Diego Int’l LJ 7 (2005): p. 223.

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For more on the issue of violence, see: José Miguel Cruz and Angélica Durán-Martínez, “Hiding violence to deal with the state: Criminal pacts in El Salvador and Medellin,” Journal of Peace Research 53, no. 2 (2016): pp. 197–210; José Miguel Cruz, “State and criminal violence in Latin America,” Crime, Law and Social Change 66, no. 4 (2016): pp. 375–396.

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José Miguel Cruz, Jonathan D. Rosen, Luis Enrique Amaya, and Yulia Vorobyeva, The New Face of Street Gangs: The Gang Phenomenon in El Salvador (Miami, FL: FIU, 2017); see also: Jonathan D. Rosen and José Miguel Cruz, “Overcoming Stigma and Discrimination: Challenges for Reinsertion of Gang Members in Developing Countries,” International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology (2018): pp. 1–18.

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José Miguel Cruz, Jonathan D. Rosen, Luis Enrique Amaya, and Yulia Vorobyeva, The New Face of Street Gangs: The Gang Phenomenon in El Salvador.

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José Miguel Cruz, Jonathan D. Rosen, Luis Enrique Amaya, and Yulia Vorobyeva, The New Face of Street Gangs: The Gang Phenomenon in El Salvador; Jonathan D. Rosen and José Miguel Cruz, “Overcoming Stigma and Discrimination: Challenges for Reinsertion of Gang Members in Developing Countries.”

Title: Gangs and Counter-Gang Strategies
Authors: Jonathan D. Rosen
Hanna Samir Kassab
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Book: Drugs, Gangs, and Violence
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-94450-0

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-94451-7

Copyright Year: 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94451-7_5