Escaping Precariousness: Criminal Occupational Mobility of Homicide Inmates During the Mexican Drug War

Abstract

One of the main inquiry topics within crime and conflict studies is how inequalities or poverty fosters or deters participation in organised violence. Since the late 1990s, the increase in violence in Latin America has boosted the use of Global North criminology and conflict studies to explain this phenomenon. Although helpful, the question about the link between inequality and violence remains elusive. Instead, this research uses occupational mobility and life course approaches to analyse the latest Mexican inmate survey data. With this data, we can understand the factors behind youth recruitment into violent criminal organisations during the current drug war. The main findings point to youth transitions from school and low-skilled manual employment towards criminal violent activities as an option out of work precariousness. This research proposes researching transitions to organised violence as an occupational choice in market economies and post-conflict settlements as a possible causal mechanism that explains inequalities and violence.