Construyendo Inseguridades. Aproximaciones a la violencia en Centroamérica desde el análisis del discurso

Arbeitspapier

In all Central American countries we witness a struggle to define, interpret and classify types of violence, delinquency, crime and (in)security. Although this struggle has highly relevant political and social implications, it has not been analyzed systematically. This article evaluates the state of the art and, based on methodological considerations, emphasizes the contribution of qualitative research on the local level in contrast to quantitative studies on the national or regional level. In a second step, using the discourse on Central American youth gangs as an example, the authors show that moral panic and repressive criminal policies are not direct consequences of the violence phenomena per se. Rather, the perception of and the reactions to insecurity and violence are based on social discourses about these phenomena.

Object Details

• Alternative title: Constructed insecurities. Discourse analysis and the understanding of violence in Central America
• Language: Spanisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: GIGA Working Papers ; No. 34

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Sozialwissenschaften, Soziologie, Anthropologie
• Subject: Central America ; violence ; delinquency ; insecurity ; discourse analysis

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Huhn, Sebastian ; Oettler, Anika ; Peetz, Peter
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA)
• (where): Hamburg
• (when): 2006

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/47862
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET