Perceptions and Realities of Violence in Medellín, Colombia

Abstract

Latin America is one of the most violent regions in the world, and this is particularly evident in its many cities. While urban violence scholars and policymakers generally rely on homicide rates to measure levels of violence in urban environments, these objective indicators often do not capture its realities. By drawing from over six months of fieldwork in the Latin American city of Medellín, Colombia, this paper shows how Medellín has experienced a significant reduction in homicides, but both real and perceived violence continues to have a significant effect on residents’ lives. The article contributes to the urban violence debate by highlighting its complexity in Latin America and how it is not fully quantifiable.
 The article has been kindly translated into Spanish by the author and can be viewed in both English and Spanish

Insider and Outsider Fieldwork Challenges in Medellín, Colombia

“…Further, the local media may even sensationalise actual levels of violence. Previous research has www.crimejusticejournal.com IJCJ&SD 89 2020 9(3) shown that in Latin America, there are discrepancies between perceived levels of crime and reported levels of crime (Corbacho, Philipp and Ruiz-Vega 2012;Doyle 2019b;Restrepo and Moreno 2007;Sanguinetti et al 2014).…”

“…However, by 2018 this figure reduced to 27 per 100,000, translating to a 95% reduction in homicides. Researchers have acknowledged how despite this decline, different forms of violence continue to have an impact on the lives of residents (Abello-Colak and Pearce 2015;Abello-Colak and Guarneros-Meza 2014;Dávila 2018;Doyle 2019aDoyle , 2019b. Further, and similar to other Latin American cities, Medellín continues to experience high levels of distrust in public institutions and residents generally do not feel safe, despite reductions in reported levels of crime (Medellín Como Vamos 2015;Sanguinetti et al 2014).…”

“…This article makes an important contribution to the methodological and urban violence literature, as it presents the experiences of an outsider researcher from the Global North and an insider from the Global South, collecting qualitative data in Medellín, Colombia. While this city has recently experienced a reduction in homicides, different forms of violence continue to affect the daily lives of residents (Dávila 2018;Doyle 2019aDoyle , 2019b. The experiences of both researchers provide important insights for both insider and outsider researchers investigating violence in other Latin American cities, notably by highlighting the necessity and complexity of conducting fieldwork in volatile environments.…”

Humanizing Security through Action‐oriented Research in Latin America

“…The so‐called ‘Medellín Model’ (Bahl, 2012; Brand and Davila, 2011; Maclean, 2015) was taken up in varied guises in other cities, such as Monterrey and Ciudad Juarez in Mexico and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil (Gay, 2017), where new ‘models’ emerged. The limitations of the security model in Medellín have become apparent (Doyle, 2019; Humphrey and Valverde, 2017). Local gangs and criminal organizations in Medellín, as in other cities such as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, still have strong influence in marginalized communities despite increased state intervention, not only because they exercise violent forms of social ordering and conflict management, but because they have inserted themselves in the provision of local services (Abello Colak and Guarneros‐Meza, 2014; Blattman et al., 2021; Davila, 2018; Feltran, 2020).…”