Violence in Latin America: An Overview of Research and Issues

Abstract

In this review of violence in Latin America, I have attempted to organize the region's scholarly literature around the most influential and leading research issues. Three main lines of research have materialized from this overview. First, one line of research is concerned with the difference between the old patterns of violence and the so-called new violence. Second, a line of research focuses on the state's responses to violence. Third, a similar, although much broader, line of research focuses on the public's responses to violence. The article describes a number of paradoxes and paradigms around the study of violence in the region. Further work toward organization and synthesis of research and issues in the region is necessary.