Constructed Insecurities: Discourse Analysis and the Understanding of Violence in Central America

Hühn, Sebastian; Oettler, Anika; Peetz, Peter

doi:10.2139/ssrn.977977

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 49 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…But there is a broad consensus about the prime importance of the subject for El Salvador among Salvadoran and international researchers alike. 32 The "Everyday Discourse"…”

Section: The Academic Discoursementioning

confidence: 99%

“… 14. It is important to note that what is defined as violence and delinquency in a given society is highly dependent on the social context (see Huhn, Oettler, & Peetz, 2006a, pp. 19-22). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 32. See Huhn, Oettler, and Peetz (2006a, pp. 26-29) for a more detailed analysis of scholarly (and other) publications on the Central American youth gangs. …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Youth Violence in Central America

Peetz

2010

Youth & Society

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The article analyzes the social construction of youth violence in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and El Salvador on the one hand, and the related security policies of the three states, on the other. In each country, there is an idiosyncratic way of constructing youth violence and juvenile delinquency. Also, each country has its own manner of reaction to those problems. In El Salvador youths are socially constructed as a threat to security, and the state implements predominantly repressive policies to protect citizens against that threat. In Nicaragua and Costa Rica, where the social discourse on youth violence is less prominent, the state’s policies are neither very accentuated nor very coherent, whether in terms of repressive or nonrepressive measures. There are strong relationships and mutual influences between the public’s fear (or disregard) of youth violence and the state’s policies to reduce it.

show abstract

“…But there is a broad consensus about the prime importance of the subject for El Salvador among Salvadoran and international researchers alike. 32 The "Everyday Discourse"…”

Section: The Academic Discoursementioning

confidence: 99%

“… 14. It is important to note that what is defined as violence and delinquency in a given society is highly dependent on the social context (see Huhn, Oettler, & Peetz, 2006a, pp. 19-22). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%