Violence in the Central District from the viewpoint of the structural and criminal approach

Abstract

Urban violence has existed since the city exists, however, in recent years has become a topic of great importance due to new forms it has assumed and due to the alarming increase of its magnitude, clear expression of the urban crisis in the cities, of which the Central District is no exception. This article analyzes the violence in the Central District from two perspectives: structural violence and criminal violence; the first considers that violence is rooted in poverty, economic inequality, exclusion, social segregation and lack of social, political and economic opportunities, generated by the system. The second approach emphasizes that criminal violence in DC manifests in the increasing levels of victimization, which takes forms such as theft, assaults, murders, killings and kidnapping amongst the crimes of greater significance.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5377/pdac.v7i0.689

Revista Población y Desarrollo: Argonautas y Caminantes, Vol. 7, No. 7, 2011 pp.25-35