Formations of Violence in Post-Dictatorial Contexts: Logics of Confrontation between the Police and the Young Urban Poor in Contemporary Argentina

Abstract

<p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">&nbsp;</p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">&nbsp;</p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">&nbsp;</p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">The increase in juvenile violence in Argentina since the 1990s results from a combination of economic and socio-structural change and the reinstatement of repressive&nbsp;traditions that became particularly engrained in the armed and security forces during the 1976&ndash;1983 dictatorship. Growing unemployment and poverty led to the emergence&nbsp;of loose webs of juvenile delinquency, while increasing public concern about violent crime led to a revival of harsh &ldquo;iron fist&rdquo; policing measures by security forces&nbsp;that are often themselves involved in crime in connivance with local politicians. Groups of young urban poor (calling themselves Pibes Chorros or Crooked Kids) and the&nbsp;security forces regard one another with mutual hostility, and police/civilian casualties increased over the period. The music of the Crooked Kids, Cumbia Villera, expresses&nbsp;their life experience. From a comparative perspective, the absence of institutionalized gangs sets Argentina apart from other countries in Latin and North America.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

Keywords

• Dictatorships
• Juvenile Violence
• Latin America