Violence Research in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Literature Review

Abstract

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">&nbsp;</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Latin America has long been a violence-prone continent. No other region of the world knows higher homicide rates nor has such a variety of violence. Political&nbsp;violence, guerilla movements and civil wars, bloody revolutions, brutal dictatorships, domestic violence, criminal violence, and youth violence are all well&nbsp;known throughout history. This article gives an overview of the historical development of violence in Latin America and the Caribbean, examining its specificities</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">and changes. The focus is on the recent explosion of violence and crime since the 1980s. As a literature review, it summarizes the main findings of academic&nbsp;research on violence in the different Latin American countries, thus providing additional insights into the major topics and research interests of Latin&nbsp;American and international institutions. After a short introduction and some remarks on the historical development of violence, the main part of the article&nbsp;deals with the recent rise of violence in the region. A special focus is on youth violence. At the end, the causes, costs, and consequences of violence for the&nbsp;Latin American societies are addressed.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

Keywords

• Violence
• Violence Research
• Political Violence
• YouthViolence
• Youth Gangs
• Homicide
• History of Violence
• Latin America
• Caribbean