By Kyong Mazzaro In recent years, the literature on the drivers of social violence and homicide rates in Latin America has split into multiple streams of explanations that may seem incompatible. While most perspectives in the development studies field emphasize how adverse economic conditions such as poverty may incentivize crime, criminological and other conflict resolution research have instead focused on the role of state control, informal institutions, and changes in the social environment (corruption, social constraints, and urbanization, for example). This parallel development of often divergent theories has motivated a general call for approaches that can integrate the perspectives of different fields. Although disciplinary divides may be difficult to bridge, a recent empirical analysis and review of current theories of crime by Rivera (2015) shows that existing explanations of homicide rates are rather complementary. Looking at the relationship between indicators of motivation, control, opportunity, and constraints associated with crime, and homicide rates in 19 Latin American Countries over the period 1980-2010, Rivera found that state and social constraints as well as opportunities are contextual drivers of violence. In fact, while educational attainment and judicial capacity have a negative effect on homicide rates, the mechanisms in which favorable and adverse economic conditions influence crime are not as straightforward. For example, a drug-related activity such as money-laundering is associated with higher levels of violence, but not all countries that produce drugs experience high levels of violence.   At the same time, looking at regions within a country can show radically diverging levels of violence, such as the Brazilian case of southeastern decline and northern increase of regional levels of crime.
Motivational, controlling, opportunity, and constraining factors associated with violence can have substantially different effects in different settings within and across Latin American countries. At the same time, key dynamics at different levels of analysis work in concert and interact over time to predict homicide rates. From this perspective, context-sensitive investigations that unveil the mechanisms in which key factors are associated with crime from a systemic perspective will be essential to devise and implement effective policy measures in the region. References: Rivera, M. (2015). The sources of social violence in Latin America: An empirical analysis of homicide rates, 1980-2010. Journal of Peace Research. http://doi.org/10.1177/0022343315598823
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Categories: Blog, International Conflict

Published November 4, 2015