StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Reduction in Violent Crime Rates in El Salvador - Assignment Example

Cite this document
Summary
The purpose of the report “Reduction in Violent Crime Rates in El Salvador” is to assess the effectiveness of two ways of reducing violent crimes. El Salvador is the most densely populated and the smallest country in Central America with a population of 6,125,512 as of July 2014…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER93% of users find it useful
Reduction in Violent Crime Rates in El Salvador
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Reduction in Violent Crime Rates in El Salvador"

Reduction in Violent Crime Rates in El Salvador Module Group Module Assignment ID Number Table of Contents 1.0Introduction 3 2.0 Background 3 3.0 Presentation of Methods 4 3.1 Incarceration 4 3.2 Anti-gang Policies 4 4.0 Requirements 6 4.1 Cost 6 4.2 Effectiveness 6 5.0 Comparison of Methods 6 5.1 Cost 6 5.1.1 Incarceration 6 5.1.2 Anti-gang policies 7 5.2 Effectiveness 7 6. Conclusion 8 7. Recommendation 9 1.0 Introduction Violent crime is defined as the offences which involves force or threat of force. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI), Uniform Crime reports, violent crime includes murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, robbery, aggravated assault and forcible rape. It has been estimated that the occurrence of violent crimes has decreased in the United States by 6 % in 2010 from the estimate of 2009 (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2010). Crime affects lives of individuals as well as the progress of an economy. It hampers private security and gives rise to problems regarding altering homes or confining the hours of work to the morning when one has the assurance that they are safe. Crime increases the institutional costs to the government for additional judicial and security costs (World Bank, 2011). Crime also has negative impacts on the business climate of a state. Thus, it is extremely important to reduce the crime rates of a nation to provide relief to its citizens and also to improve the economic performance of the country. The purpose of the report is to assess the effectiveness of two ways of reducing violent crimes. El Salvador is the most densely populated and the smallest country in Central America with a population of 6,125,512 as on July 2014 (Central Intelligence Agency, 2015). It is situated between the Honduras and Guatemala and is bordered by the North Pacific Ocean and its capital city is Sal Salvador (globalEDGE, 2013). El Salvador is considered one of the most violent countries in the world and is rated as “critical for crime” by the U.S. Department of State (OSAC, 2013). 2.0 Background The country achieved independence in 1821 from Spain and political and military reforms took place after the 12- year long civil war ended in 1992. The per capita murder rate is “69 per 100,000” in El Salvador in 2012 which is second highest in the world (OSAC, 2013).The country is vulnerable to extreme weather conditions and frequent earthquakes. It is heavily dependent on the United States and the structure of the public and external accounts is very weak. The country is characterized by high inequality and extreme poverty rates and suffer from high insecurity associated with drug trafficking. The percentage of violent crimes such as robbery and burglary and overall victimization rates is found to be significantly less compared to the homicide rate in El Salvador (World Bank, 2011). There is no area in the country where the crime rate is less than 5 per 100,000 (World Bank, 2013). 3.0 Presentation of Methods 3.1 Incarceration Incarceration is the most widely used way of reducing violent crime in almost all countries. The judicial system of the countries believes that it is the most efficient method to punish the criminals. The incarceration rate of the United Nations has increased by 240 % from 1980 to 2008 (Schmitt, Warner & Gupta, 2010). It has been observed that the increase in the imprisonment rate does not lead to the proportional increase in violent crimes. Over the years, the philosophy of incarceration has been shifted from rehabilitation to that of deterrence and retribution in the United States (National Policy Committee, 2000). The three main factors behind punishment are retribution, deterrence and incapacitation. Retribution is the way in which the person committing crime pays for his or her offence. Incapacitation ensures that the offender poses no threat to the society in the future and deterrence is the perception philosophy which indicates that severe punishment of offenders deters other individuals from committing violent crimes in the future (MacDonald, 2012). 3.2 Anti-gang Policies Anti-gang policies are relevant in areas which suffer from severe gang problem. The northern triangle region of Central America comprising of Honduras Guatemala and El Salvador is dominated by various gangs (Eguizábal et. al, 2015). The inhabitants of El Salvador are traumatized by organized crime and street level crime which involves distribution of drugs and extortion rackets. The two main prominent gangs in El Salvador are “Mara Salvatrucha” and “Barrio 18” (Princeton University, 2015). Regressive anti-gang laws have been observed to be ineffective and governments are increasingly adopting unusual methods for reducing the gang problem (Seelke, 2014). Drug-trafficking is associated with the increase in the number of youth gang members in the countries of Central America including El Salvador. Gang members are found to carry out rampant extortion and are associated with migrant smuggling and human trafficking (Figure 1) (United Nations Publications, 2007). Figure 1: Number of Central American nationals arrested for Drug-trafficking in US in 2004 (Source: United Nations Publications, 2007). Figure 2: Rank and Homicide Rate for El Salvador (2005-2012) (Source: Eguizábal et. al, 2015) The government negotiated with the two main gangs of the region and an agreement was reached between the two in 2012. This has reduced the rate of homicide in 2012 (Figure 1). In the agreement in 2012, the gang leaders have committed to stop killing each other and reduce homicide in the country. The negotiations with the gang leaders have increased in the engagement of gang members in societal activities (Princeton University, 2015). 4.0 Requirements The two methods to reduce violent crimes can be analyzed against the backdrop of the following requirements: 4.1 Cost El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America and its economic growth rate has declined constantly from 2009 due to the global recession. The present growth rate of the country is 1.7% (2014) (Central Intelligence Agency, 2015).Moreover, the high crime rate in the country adversely affects the investment climate and allocates huge amount of resources from the productive sectors to crime prevention. So, the cost aspect of the adopted method is important for the development of the country. 4.2 Effectiveness The current situation of security in the country of El Salvador is extremely volatile as the rate of homicide is more than the rate of other crimes in the region. The gang problem is very severe in the region and the youth of the country is getting absorbed in the gangs due to high poverty levels, widespread unemployment, faulty education system and lack of economic prosperity of the country (Seelke, 2014). This indicates that the method widely used to tackle crime in the region is ineffective and needs to be revised. 5.0 Comparison of Methods 5.1 Cost 5.1.1 Incarceration The method of incarceration involves high budgetary costs. The United States has the highest imprisonment rate in the world in 2008 with nearly “753 persons per 100,000 in prison or jail” (Schmitt, Warner & Gupta, 2010).Imprisonment costs form a large part of the local and state governments. It has been observed that if the rate of imprisonment would have been halved, then the correctional expenditures of the government would have been reduced by $ 16.9 billion per year (Schmitt, Warner & Gupta, 2010). Thus, the method of imprisonment is very expensive and using it as a method to reduce crime may affect the economic prosperity of the country. 5.1.2 Anti-gang policies Anti-gang policies are usually very suppressing and enforcing in nature. Mano Dura (firm hand) and super Mano Dura (super firm hand) are some of the anti-gang policies which are adopted by the government (USAID, 2006). Since these are law enforcement approaches, it needs a huge force of law personnel to implement the laws. Thus, it also involves cost to the government. 5.2 Effectiveness The effectiveness of the incarceration method has been proved to be ineffective in the case of El Salvador as it has been observed that increase in the rate of incarceration is not due to the rise of violent crime and involves nonviolent crimes such as property crimes (Schmitt, Warner & Gupta, 2010). It has been proved ineffective as organized crime prevails in the country. It suffers from severe gang problem. The gangs are highly prevalent in the countries of Honduras and Guatemala along with El Salvador in Central America. These three countries form the “northern triangle” of Central America (Seelke, 2014). The estimated gang-membership of two dominant gangs named, “18th Street” (MS-18) and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), in these countries are shown in Figure 3 (Seelke, 2014). Initially the enforcement of tough anti-gang laws was proved to be effective as the police force was able to crack down on the gangs but in the recent times the gang members have become more cautious. They change their clothing style, remove or hide their tattoos and avoid using their hand signals which makes it more difficult for the investigating agencies to arrest or identify them. Figure 3: Estimated Gang Membership in the countries of Central America (Source: Seelke, 2014) The countries in the northern triangle including El Salvador enforce more aggressive anti-gang policies than the other countries of Central America. Tough enforcement laws resulted in negative consequences in the mid 2000s. For this, the governments of these countries are moving towards “second generation’ anti-gang policies which includes innovative programs focusing on the prevention of youth at risk, encouraging youths to leave the gangs and participate in municipal alliances created to act against crime and violence. However, the novel and risky anti-gang policy undertaken by the government of El Salvador by facilitating a truce between the 18th Street gang and MS- 18 to combat the gang violence has received the attention of the world. In order to tackle the gang problem, the government of El Salvador had adopted many anti-gang policies, but the suppressing nature of the laws was the reason behind its failure. These laws do not address the main cause of the problem of gang such as extreme poverty, youth unemployment, failure of the education system to retain the youth of the country, access to illicit economy and many other causes (USAID, 2006). 6. Conclusion 6.1. The incarceration method is ineffective for the El Salvador. 6.2 The traditional anti-gang policies adopted by the government of El Salvador do not solve the severe gang problem in the region. 6.3 The truce between the two dominant gangs in the region has proved to be efficient to reduce the rate of violent crime in 2012. 7. Recommendation The government of El Salvador must focus on designing an effective anti-gang strategy. The strategy must include improved police capability, reforms in the prison, better targeted arrests and more opportunities for the young convicted gang members and preventive measures for the youth at risk. The anti-gang strategy must aim at achieving inclusive growth, employment creation and economic development. The authority must concentrate on maintaining the agreement of the gang leaders with the government as they have the capacity of influencing the homicide rate of the country. The officials in the government must emphasize on the rehabilitation of the prisoners. It should continue to develop and monitor the further evolution of gangs in the country. Gangs must be encouraged to participate in the development of the society and collaboration with international organizations must be increased to provide support for the actions taken by the El Salvador government to improve the security condition in the state. References Central Intelligence Agency. (2015). El Salvador. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/es.html Eguizábal, C., Ingram, M.C., Curtis, K.M., Korthuis, A., Olson, E.L. & Phillips, N. (2015). Crime and Violence in Central America’s Northern Triangle. Retrieved from http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/FINAL%20PDF_CARSI%20REPORT_0.pdf Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2010). Violent Crime. Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/violent-crime globalEDGE. (2013). El Salvador. Retrieved from http://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/el-salvador/memo MacDonald, E. (2012). Does Imprisonment as a Punishment Deter Crime? Retrieved from http://justspeak.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Does-imprisonment-deter-crime.pdf National Policy Committee. (2000). The Use of Incarceration in the United States. Retrieved from http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~oliver/RACIAL/Reports/ascincarcerationdraft.pdf OSAC. (2013). El Salvador 2013 Crime and Safety Report. Retrieved from https://www.osac.gov/pages/ContentReportPDF.aspx?cid=13875 Princeton University. (2015). Best Practices In Reducing Violent Homicide Rates. Retrieved from https://wws.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/content/591g%20Homicide%20Reduction%20in%20Honduras_1.pdf Schmitt, J., Warner, K. & Gupta, S. (2010). The High Budgetary Cost of Incarceration. Retrieved from http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/incarceration-2010-06.pdf Seelke, C.R. (2014). Gangs in Central America. Retrieved from https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL34112.pdf United Nations Publications. (2007). Crime and Development in Central America. Retrieved from http://www.unodc.org/pdf/research/Central_America_Study_2007.pdf USAID. (2006). Central America and Mexico Gang Assessment. Retrieved from http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADG834.pdf World Bank. (2011). Crime and Violence in Central America: A Development Challenge. Retrieved from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTLAC/Resources/FINAL_VOLUME_I_ENGLISH_CrimeAndViolence.pdf Bibliography Blau, J. R. & Blau, P. M. (1982). The cost of inequality: Metropolitan structure and violent crime. American Sociological Review, 47, 114-129. Fajnzlber, P., Lederman, D. & Loayza, N. (2002). Inequality and violent crime. Journal of Law and Economic., 45, 1-40. Fajnzylber, P., Lederman, D. & Loayza, N. (2002). What causes violent crime? European Economic Review, 46(7), 1323-1357. Kelling, G. L. (1996). Fixing broken windows: Restoring order and reducing crime in our communities. New York: Simon and Schuster. Kennedy, B. P., Kawachi, I., Prothrow-Stith, D., Lochner, K. & Gupta, V. (1998). Social capital, income inequality, and firearm violent crime. Social science & medicine, 47(1), 7-17. Lott, J.R. (2013). More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws. Chigago: University of Chicago Press. Sampson, R. J., Raudenbush, S. W. & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277(5328), 918-924. Short, J. F. (1997). Poverty, ethnicity, and violent crime. California: Westview Press. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(Reduction in Violent Crime Rates in El Salvador Assignment, n.d.)
Reduction in Violent Crime Rates in El Salvador Assignment. https://studentshare.org/sociology/1878034-reduce-of-violent-crime-rates-in-el-salvador
(Reduction in Violent Crime Rates in El Salvador Assignment)
Reduction in Violent Crime Rates in El Salvador Assignment. https://studentshare.org/sociology/1878034-reduce-of-violent-crime-rates-in-el-salvador.
“Reduction in Violent Crime Rates in El Salvador Assignment”. https://studentshare.org/sociology/1878034-reduce-of-violent-crime-rates-in-el-salvador.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Reduction in Violent Crime Rates in El Salvador

Predicting Crime with the Uniform Crime Reporting System

Using forecasting programs and software (similar to those employed in other industries) combined with professional analysts, it is quite easy to tell what the crime rates in the United States will look like in the future, and how past crime rates influence future ones.... The system is designed in such a way that public safety officials are able to go back in time and examine how crime rates and data have been changing, the patterns they have been following and the frequency with which they have been occurring in specific regions (cities, states and countrywide)....
3 Pages (750 words) Assignment

Why Youth Unemployment Is a Particularly Serious Issue for Many Countries of the World

Unemployed youth have resulted in violent ways to get the things they need for their economic sustainability in different places.... This research is being carried out to evaluate and present the analysis of the problems of youth unemployment in Brazil to help understand the issues that are associated with it in the world and enable understanding of the things that governments can do to alleviate it....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

The El Mozote Massacre

Current hard work by the lawyers in el salvador to regenerate the case, which was abandoned in 2000, has constantly been unsuccessful4.... Something Horrible in el salvador.... The El Mozote Massacre occurred in the village of El Mozote, in Morazan unit, el salvador, when Salvadoran defense force massacred no less than 1000 inhabitant in an anti-guerrilla operation.... El Mozote El Mozote 1El Mozote The El Mozote Massacre occurred in the village of El Mozote, in Morazan unit, el salvador, when Salvadoran defense force massacred no less than 1000 inhabitant in an anti-guerrilla operation....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Salvador Dal's life

This essay explores the life of salvador Dali, a Spanish painter.... salvador Dali was treated differently and it would not be wrong to state that in quite a special manner which really did the trick in his strong build up of personality.... Salvadore Dali Artist's Life salvador Dali was born in Spain in the year 1904....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Global Crimes Rate

In contrast the nations having the highest homicide rates happen to be underdeveloped economies were people do not have a ready access to the opportunities for education, employment and healthcare, thereby augmenting the crime rates in these nations (Reamer, 2005).... The three countries having the lowest homicide rates… In contrast the three nations having the highest homicide rates which are Honduras, el salvador and Jamaica have relatively low Global Crime Rate of the Law of the Concerned October 22, Global Crime Rate A....
2 Pages (500 words) Research Paper

Violent Crimein the United States

The researcher states that there is a need to defend the community despite crime rates being either high or low.... This habit needs to stop and there is a need to take care of the problem of crime even when the crime rates are low.... In fact, it is often said that prevention is better than cure and consequently, there is a need to defend the community despite crime rates being either high or low.... This research is being carried out to evaluate the issue of violent crime and present the statistics that show the extent of violent crime in Newark in New Jersey....
1 Pages (250 words) Assignment

Summary of Crime and Violence and Political Rights

The article authored by José Miguel Cruz aims to explore why there is a less crime and violence rate in Nicaragua than other Central American countries like el salvador and Honduras where crime violence is a big national issue.... The article written by Fernandez and Kuenzi attempts to explore the relationship between the citizens' perceptions of crime and safety and performance of democracy in a country.... It is stressed that it is very important how the citizens react toward crime and public safety....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Schizophrenia, Substance Abuse, and Violent Crime by Fazel

… The paper "Schizophrenia, Substance Abuse, and violent crime by Fazel" is a great example of a psychology article review.... Schizophrenia Is there a link between schizophrenia, substance abuse, and violent crime?... Many researchers have felt that there is and that those who suffer from schizophrenia are at an increased risk for violent crime and substance abuse.... The paper "Schizophrenia, Substance Abuse, and violent crime by Fazel" is a great example of a psychology article review....
1 Pages (250 words) Article
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us