When Informality Matters: Participatory Security Reform and Mechanisms of Social Embeddedness in Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico

Montambeault, Françoise; Félix, Annabelle Dias

doi:10.1017/s0022216x21000468

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 32 publications

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“…Government actors can complement excessive bonding within communities, which as I show facilitates violent social control, with bridging toward state agents, thereby reducing support for lynching ( Nivette 2016 ). Policies like community policing ( Gill et al 2014 ) and initiatives improving procedural justice ( Karim 2020 ; Wood, Tyler, and Papachristos 2020 ) may contribute to trust relationships, but they need to be adapted to the Latin American context ( Blattman et al 2022 ; González and Mayka 2023 ; Montambeault and Dias Félix 2021 ). Such policies could strengthen the norms shared by community members and state agents, enabling a concerted engagement in social control and bringing the “bright side” of community ties to the fore.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “Dark Side” of Community Ties: Collective Action and Lynching in Mexico

Nussio

2024

Am Sociol Rev

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Lynching remains a common form of collective punishment for alleged wrongdoers in Latin America, Africa, and Asia today. Unlike other kinds of collective violence, lynching is usually not carried out by standing organizations. How do lynch mobs overcome the high barriers to violent collective action? I argue that they draw on local community ties to compensate for a lack of centralized organization. Lynch mobs benefit from solidarity and peer pressure, which facilitate collective action. The study focuses on Mexico, where lynching is prevalent and often amounts to the collective beating of thieves. Based on original survey data from Mexico City and a novel lynching event dataset covering the whole of Mexico, I find that individuals with more ties in their communities participate more often in lynching, and municipalities with more highly integrated communities have higher lynching rates. As community ties and lynching may be endogenously related, I also examine the posited mechanisms and the causal direction. Findings reveal that municipalities exposed to a recent major earthquake—an event that tends to increase community ties—subsequently experienced increased levels of lynching. Importantly, I find that interpersonal trust is unrelated to lynching, thus showing that different aspects of social capital have diverging consequences for collective violence, with community ties revealing a “dark side.”

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “Dark Side” of Community Ties: Collective Action and Lynching in Mexico

Nussio

2024

Am Sociol Rev

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Relational street‐level bureaucracy: Proximity policing and the construction of trust between citizens and municipal police officers in Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico

González‐Martínez,

Peeters

2024

Aust J Public Adm

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Various studies have provided evidence that, especially in the Global South, relational street‐level bureaucracy can play a constructive role in bridging the gap between vulnerable population groups and a distant, formal bureaucracy that often fails to guarantee citizens’ rights and factual access to public services and benefits. However, studies have also highlighted street‐level bureaucracies’ vulnerability to practices of corruption, patrimonialism, and clientelism as they engage with citizens through more informal mechanisms. In this article, we contribute to understanding which institutional conditions can promote constructive citizen‐bureaucrat interactions by presenting findings from a qualitative study on proximity policing in a densely populated suburb of Mexico City with some of the highest crime levels in the entire metropolitan area. Sustained and managerially supported implementation of proximity policing has improved citizen‐police relations and facilitated learning processes by both officers and residents, while minimizing risks of clientelism. Although this model of municipal policing is no panacea for complex security issues, it does confirm existing evidence regarding the importance of relational street‐level bureaucracy for improving citizen trust and, moreover, highlights the importance of consistent managerial and citizen involvement as enabling factors.Points for practitioners The traditional focus on bureaucratic control and capacities has often involuntarily ended up worsening public service provision in contexts with weak state institutions. Relational street‐level bureaucracy can play a constructive role in bridging the gap between vulnerable population groups and a distant, formal bureaucracy. Consistent managerial support, citizen involvement, and professional deliberation are crucial elements in mitigating the downsides of informality in street‐level interactions.

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Policía de proximidad y confianza ciudadana

Padilla-Oñate

2024

Rev. Cient. Gen. José María Córdova

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Este artículo analiza la capacidad de los programas de policía de proximidad o policía comunitaria para fomentar la confianza en la policía en dos localidades: el municipio de Nezahualcóyotl en el estado de México y el Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México. Para ello se analizan los resultados de una encuesta aplicada a los habitantes de las dos localidades, mediante el desarrollo de un modelo de regresión logística binomial. Los resultados muestran que en ambos casos estas estrategias de proximidad han conseguido un impacto positivo en la confianza de los habitantes, más allá de otros factores individuales y contextuales. No obstante, la eficacia de la policía para prevenir delitos se muestra como el determinante principal de la confianza en ambos casos.

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When Informality Matters: Participatory Security Reform and Mechanisms of Social Embeddedness in Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico

Cited by 3 publications

References 32 publications

The “Dark Side” of Community Ties: Collective Action and Lynching in Mexico

The “Dark Side” of Community Ties: Collective Action and Lynching in Mexico

Relational street‐level bureaucracy: Proximity policing and the construction of trust between citizens and municipal police officers in Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico

Policía de proximidad y confianza ciudadana

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