Corruption, impunity and mistrust: moving beyond police gatekeepers for researching gangs

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to discuss the importance of having several entry points into the field, via gatekeepers who do not belong to law enforcement agencies, in contexts where the police cannot be defined as trustworthy. Design/methodology/approach The argumentation of this paper is based on qualitative research on women and gangs in Honduras. An ethnographical methodology was implemented, which included over a year of observations, 65 interviews and two focus groups in gang-controlled communities and detention centers in Central America (with a focus on Honduras), between 2017 and 2020. The paper implements a feminist reflexive approach, focusing on patriarchy, positionality and silence. Findings Collaborating with the police as gatekeepers in gang research needs to be reevaluated. In countries such as Honduras, the police are riddled with corruption and impunity, which eventually leads to mistrust among gang members and other citizens. Hence, it is recommended to approach other, non-law enforcement, gatekeepers, who often stand much closer to the gangs and have a less conflicted or biased position toward them and toward other people living in gang areas. Research limitations/implications A feminist reflexive approach is recommended for researching women and gangs, and thus also for choosing the right gatekeepers in the field, taking into account researchers’ and gatekeepers’ positionality. Originality/value Police corruption in relation to gangs and gang-related crimes often goes unreported and silences people living in gang-controlled areas. This paper exposes these conflicted roles, not only regarding police abuse vis-à-vis gangs and people living in gang areas but also in relation to gang researchers in the field.

Negotiating humanitarian space with criminal armed groups in urban Latin America

“…Owing to the resounding failure of this so‐called War on Gangs, governments across the region explored more cooperative strategies towards CAGs, including the brokering of gang truces. However, while the 2012 truce in El Salvador between the two largest maras , Mara Salvatrucha and the 18th Street Gang, initially produced a steep decline in homicides, murder rates subsequently surpassed pre‐truce levels (Schuberth, Following the breakdown of the truce in 2015, El Salvador is not only back to militarised anti‐gang efforts, but it has also criminalised humanitarian engagement with CAGs: the Supreme Court declared maras ‘terrorist organisations’ and deemed negotiations with them illegal and punishable by law, with wide‐reaching ramifications even for gang researchers (Van Damme, 2021). 8…”