Abstract

ORDONEZ VALVERDE, JORGE. Magical-religious narratives in gangs. A study on the psychology of the gangster. CS [online]. 2015, n.17, pp.133-160. ISSN 2011-0324.  https://doi.org/10.18046/recs.i17.2056.

This article is the result of an investigation on the cultural systems that sustain intergang violence in marginalized neighborhoods of Cali, Colombia. It is about magical and religious beliefs of gangsters around the episodes of violence, and that allows us to observe aspects of psychology of the gangster that are functional adaptations to the reality of vendettas and territorial wars, which are intended to give sense and meaning to the tragic events of their lives. The study shows how Santeria is used to seek protection and to damage the enemy, and how their ideas of God and the Devil, good and evil, lack of a regulatory ethics of relationships with others, and are an expression of a mechanism narcissistic defense. It is concluded that this cultural belief system is an interesting transaction path between objective social reality and subjective fantasies.

Keywords : Gangs; magical-religious beliefs; urban violence; marginality.

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