San Salvador, El Salvador is home to over a quarter million people. But, San Salvador is also home to a huge criminal network of gang activity. These gangs are also known locally as maras or pandillas. These gangs engage in petty crimes such as such as purse snatching, robbery, taxing bus drivers and small stores in their neighborhoods, as well as small-scale drug distribution in certain parts of the city in order to fund themselves economically. In the past two decades, these gangs have not only gained in prominence but also in violence. The prominence that San Salvadoran gangs have gained is due, in part, to the severe social and economical disadvantages plaguing the poorest citizens of San Salvador.
A large contributor to the unrest in …show more content…
Many of these gangs were formed and originated by Latinos in Los Angeles as a reaction to issues like social exclusion. A large topic of social exclusion experienced by the Latino community is that of their exclusion from justice and economic and physical security. Without access to a basic system of justice, people look to other people to help protect themselves and their communities. As Heather Berkman (2007) says, “Within such communities, residents cannot depend on those institutions designed to protect them, and violence becomes an instrument to achieve certain outcomes, such as justice, security, and economic gain through means that disrupt the life of the community” (p. 5). This, therefore, leaves violent individuals to form their own means of policing and justice. In communities where vasts amounts of the population are without basic economic opportunities, people resort to, what many consider, illegitimate means of survival. Residents either accept the fact they are offered little to no legal protection, or they take matters into their own …show more content…
In a study of gang members in San Salvador, almost 40 percent (39%) of the respondents had been ‘expelled from school’ at least once and the average years of formal education were 7.78 (Olate, Salas-Wright, Vaughn, 2012, p. 390). Educational difficulties are not a guarantee for gang activity, but many of those involved in gang activity have either dropped out or have been kicked out of school. When people feel that the educational and social system of their country is failing them, and they know that they won’t be able to support themselves financially or keep themselves safe, they turn to gangs for protection and economic opportunities. In the same study by René Olate, Christopher Salas-Wright, Michael G. Vaughn violence and delinquency were significantly higher for youth gang members, ranging from 2.4 to 9.0 times more than youth non-gang members; regarding risk factors, youth gang members showed statistically higher levels of educational difficulty (2007, p. 390). With an adequate education system, citizens would be able to feel safe relying on schools to prepare them for the job market, but in areas like San Salvador, these opportunities aren’t available to the majority of the population, therefore causing people to resort to gangs and petty crime to support
A large contributor to the unrest in …show more content…
Many of these gangs were formed and originated by Latinos in Los Angeles as a reaction to issues like social exclusion. A large topic of social exclusion experienced by the Latino community is that of their exclusion from justice and economic and physical security. Without access to a basic system of justice, people look to other people to help protect themselves and their communities. As Heather Berkman (2007) says, “Within such communities, residents cannot depend on those institutions designed to protect them, and violence becomes an instrument to achieve certain outcomes, such as justice, security, and economic gain through means that disrupt the life of the community” (p. 5). This, therefore, leaves violent individuals to form their own means of policing and justice. In communities where vasts amounts of the population are without basic economic opportunities, people resort to, what many consider, illegitimate means of survival. Residents either accept the fact they are offered little to no legal protection, or they take matters into their own …show more content…
In a study of gang members in San Salvador, almost 40 percent (39%) of the respondents had been ‘expelled from school’ at least once and the average years of formal education were 7.78 (Olate, Salas-Wright, Vaughn, 2012, p. 390). Educational difficulties are not a guarantee for gang activity, but many of those involved in gang activity have either dropped out or have been kicked out of school. When people feel that the educational and social system of their country is failing them, and they know that they won’t be able to support themselves financially or keep themselves safe, they turn to gangs for protection and economic opportunities. In the same study by René Olate, Christopher Salas-Wright, Michael G. Vaughn violence and delinquency were significantly higher for youth gang members, ranging from 2.4 to 9.0 times more than youth non-gang members; regarding risk factors, youth gang members showed statistically higher levels of educational difficulty (2007, p. 390). With an adequate education system, citizens would be able to feel safe relying on schools to prepare them for the job market, but in areas like San Salvador, these opportunities aren’t available to the majority of the population, therefore causing people to resort to gangs and petty crime to support